anti-immigration Reform Party winning English local elections in apparent landslide UPDATE | Eastern NC Now

FINAL UPDATE TODAY:

With counting halted for the night, 7 councils (out of 136) remain to be counted on the English local councils.  ReformUK has so far won 1,428 seats, a gain of !,426 over the 2 it elected in the 2021 election.  It is the only party now in four digits.  The biggest loser is the Labour Party, which has already lost 1,380 of the seats they had held going into the election.

LATEST UPDATE:

With 114 of the 136 English local councils counted,  ReformUK maintains its wide lead for first place, with 1,228 local councilors elected so far.  The next nearest party has under 800.  Reform only elected 2 councilors in this group of local councils in the 2021 election, so that is a gain of 1,226 seats this election.  Party leader Nigel Farage had said winning 800 seats would be a good night for the party, and 1,000 a great night.  They have now surpassed that goal and are closing in on 1,300.

The Labour Party, which governs at the national level, has been crushed, losing over 1,100 seats so far on English local councils.

UPDATE:

With all the votes counted in the devolved parliament for Wales, ReformUK has run a strong second, one of only two parties finishing in double digits, with the long dominant Labour Party crushed.  Labour has dominated Welsh politics for well over a century and has been the leading party in the devolved Welsh parliament since it was created. 

Final results showed the top spot going to the Welsh Nationalists, who won 43 seats, a gain of 20.  ReformUK was second with 34 seats, up from 0 seats in the 2021 election, and so a gain of 34. Labour fell to third place, losing 35 seats and finishing with only 9.  The Conservative Party followed with 7 seats, the Greens with 2, and Liberal Democrats with 1.

Early returns show the Scottish Nationalists heading for continued control of the devolved Scottish parliament, something they have maintained as long as it has existed.  ReformUK has gained 15 new seats there so far, with seven races left to count. .At this point Reform will be the third largest of six parties in the Scottish parliament.

UPDATE:A

Results have been announced for over 1200 of the over 5,000 local government races in England, and the populist nationalist anti-immigration Reform Party is the big winner in an apparent landslide.  This is an earthquake in British politics, but one polls had anticipated.  No results have yet been released for the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales which were also voted on yesterday.

On the English local councils, Reform has so far won 406 seats, a gain of 404.  The Conservative party is second with 262, a loss of 179 seats.  In third place is the Liberal Democrats with 261 seats, a gain of 37.  The nationally governing Labour Party is the biggest loser, coming in fourth with 253 seats, a loss of 261.  The far left Green Party is fifth with 53 seats, a gain of 28.  Independents have won 22 seats, a loss of 14.

The Reform Party, which calls for mass deportation of illegal aliens and an end to the "NetZero CO2" climate policies, is heavily taking seats from both of the previously dominant parties, Labour and Conservatives.

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2026/05/08/the-left-got-absolutely-destroyed-in-thursdays-uk-elections-but-who-won-is-even-better-news-n2202124

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/farages-reform-uk-storms-historic-gains-2026-local-elections-labour-suffers

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2203279/farage-rayner-essex-tameside

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c1428pev1n0t#election-england

https://conservativehome.com/2026/05/08/local-elections-live-blog-early-results-show-labour-losses-even-higher-than-expected/

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ORIGINAL POST:

The United Kingdom will hold local elections for thousands of local councilors round the country today, as well as the parliaments in Scotland and Wales, in a key test for national political parties. Polls show the nationally governing Labour Party is expected to be crushed, likely resulting in the exit of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.  The party expected to do best is the populist nationalist anti-immigration ReformUK Party led by Brexit hero Nigel Farage.  

the rise of the Reform Party is based on the two main issues it is campaigning on.  It takes a very strong line against illegal immigration and calls for mass deportation of migrants.  It also calls for an end to Labour's "Net Zero CO2" climate policies which it refers to as "Net Stupid".

https://www.rte.ie/news/uk/2026/0506/1571907-uk-local-elections/