Main developments
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a crushing set of election results, after Labour suffered heavy losses in English local council polls and devolved ballots in Scotland and Wales.
With most of the local council results in, Labour has lost more than 1,000 seats and 31 councils in England, including Essex, Hartlepool, Redditch and Westminster.
Starmer took responsibility for Labour’s “tough” results, but said he was “not going to walk away” and would lead the party into the next general election.
Cabinet ministers rallied round Starmer, but more than 10 backbench Labour MPs called on him to quit.
Outgoing Welsh first minister Baroness Eluned Morgan called for Starmer’s government to “change course” as she conceded defeat in her Senedd seat, the day’s highest-profile scalp as Labour suffered major losses in Wales.
Reform UK surged in England, gaining more than 1,200 seats and 12 councils. Leader Nigel Farage claimed the results showed a “truly historic shift in British politics”.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said two-party politics is “dead” after his party was on course to post the second biggest gain in council seats.
Plaid Cymru became the largest party in the Welsh Senedd, while the SNP won the most seats in Scotland but was set to fall short of an overall majority.
Ed Miliband: election results reveal voters’ anger over ‘broken’ status quo
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has said Labour’s “devastating” election results reveal the “anger at a broken economic and political status quo” among voters.
Among the last Cabinet ministers to comment on the ruling party’s dismal performance in the local and devolved elections, Miliband offered only tepid support for the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
“As Keir has said, we must go further in delivering the mandate for change that Labour won in 2024 — and show how we will answer the call for change in our country,” he said.
A report emerged after polling stations closed on Thursday that Miliband had privately urged Starmer to plan his resignation, but the energy secretary’s team said they did not “accept” the account.
What is the future of UK politics? Submit your questions
Britain’s political map has been redrawn following the local elections, with the Labour Party suffering heavy losses and Reform UK making big inroads across the country.
With the Conservatives also performing badly and the Greens scoring wins, the results threaten to dismantle the two-party system that has dominated British politics for more than a century.
Join our UK chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley and Inside Politics writer Stephen Bush next Tuesday as they answer your questions about how this week’s elections will shape Britain’s political future. Submit your questions now.