What to know about British elections that hammered Starmer’s Labour Party

LONDON (AP) 鈥� British pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of for his Labour Party.

As the final results came in Saturday, Labour had lost 1,000 local council seats across England and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK won almost 1,300 seats across England, came second in Wales and made significant gains in Scotland.

It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power .

Here are five things we鈥檝e learned from the elections.

Starmer is on borrowed time

Starmer insisted he would not walk away 鈥渁nd plunge the country into chaos,鈥� and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.

Starmer鈥檚 Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary , former Deputy Prime Minister and Greater Manchester Mayor are keeping quiet for now.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader mid-term without the need for a new election.

鈥淭here has to be a timetable,鈥� legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an 鈥渙rderly transition of leadership.鈥�

Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party’s ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.

Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

Reform UK is on the rise

The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party .

Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England鈥檚 north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London.

Farage said the results marked a 鈥渉istoric change in British politics.鈥� He said he’s confident that 鈥渧oters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.鈥�

Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in Parliament and it鈥檚 unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.

An increasingly disunited kingdom

The elections produced semi-autonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom 鈥� though neither has that policy on the front burner.

The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.

The economy is the biggest problem

The economy lies at the heart of Labour鈥檚 troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.

Some in Labour say the government’s achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint , a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain鈥檚 ambassador to Washington.

But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem 鈥済oes deeper than the prime minister.鈥�

鈥淭his has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can change prime ministers all day long. If you don鈥檛 change policy, it鈥檚 not going to charge.鈥�

The two-party political system is fracturing

The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.

The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the , whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described 鈥渆co populist鈥� leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won鈥檛 produce a majority for any party.

鈥淪o then you鈥檙e in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,鈥� he said 鈥� something traditionally considered 鈥渧ery un-British.鈥�

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