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Reform UK Gains Seats, Labour Loses Seats in England Local Elections
Reform UK swept all 12 seats in Hartlepool and gained dozens more across northern England as Labour lost control of multiple councils in results declared early Friday. The losses come as expected heavy defeats for Keir Starmer’s party in the first major electoral test since its 2024 general election victory.
May 7, 3:24 PM·2m read7 sources
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Reform UK won all 12 seats contested in Hartlepool, defeating Labour in each and positioning the party to take control of the council with support from independents. Labour had held a slim majority and was defending six seats in the north-east England town.
Turnout reached 31.5 percent, slightly higher than the 28 percent recorded in the last comparable local election in 2024. In Halton, Cheshire, Reform UK gained 15 councillors while Labour held only two of the 17 seats it was defending. Reform secured more than 50 percent of the vote in some wards in an area where the party had won a parliamentary byelection by just six votes the previous year.
Labour nevertheless retained overall control of the council. Losses for Labour were also reported in Chorley in Lancashire, Wigan in Greater Manchester, Redditch, and Tamworth, with several councils shifting to no overall control. The Liberal Democrats took control of Stockport.
Labour had entered the elections expecting to lose up to 1,850 councillors across England, where more than 5,000 seats were contested across 136 councils. Senior figures had described the contest as tough even before polling day. Early counts showed the party retaining only about 12 percent of the seats it was defending in some initial tallies.
Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool, said: "It has been a terrible night for the Labour party. What I’ve seen here is extraordinarily good, hard-working Hartlepool people lose their seats...
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy acknowledged the elections had been difficult, citing public concern over the cost of living and a sense that the government needed to move faster. Lammy defended Starmer’s position by pointing to past prime ministers who suffered poor local election results yet went on to win general elections.
He cited Tony Blair’s experience after 1997 and David Cameron’s losses before 2015. The elections also encompassed votes for the Scottish Parliament and the newly expanded Welsh Senedd, which grew from 60 to 96 members under a more proportional system.
