Farage Racks Up UK Election Gains as Voters Punish Starmer

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK racked up sweeping gains in the first counts in local elections, with British voters continuing to turn away from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party.

With counts completed in about a fifth of English councils, Reform had won 311 new seats, while Labour’s tally was down by 237, having lost more than half of the seats they were defending. The governing party retained control of 10 councils — but lost the helm in seven. Reform wrested control of the council in Newcastle-Under-Lyme from the Conservatives.