Labour losses pile up in England local elections as Reform UK makes gains

The scale of the electoral challenge facing Labour was laid bare overnight as the party haemorrhaged councillors at the local elections and Reform made significant gains. Keir Starmer’s party went into Thursday’s local elections expected to lose up to 1,850 councillors, with senior figures describing the contest as “tough”. Initial results painted a bleak picture for the prime minister, with Labour losing councillors in its traditional northern heartlands. Reform were the runaway winners in north-east England. There were 12 seats up for grabs in Hartlepool and Reform won every single one of them. It means Labour, which had a slim majority and was defending six seats, is likely to become the opposition. Because only a third of the council was being elected, Reform will not have an outright majority. The party will have to make deals with independents in order to take control. Labour councillors and supporters were noticeably despondent at the count in Brierton sports centre. The town’s Labour MP Jonathan Brash watched his wife Pamela Hargreaves, leader of Hartlepool council, lose her seat. He told the Guardian he was angry and he repeated his call for Keir Starmer to go. “It has been a terrible night for the Labour party,” he said. “What I’ve seen here is extraordinarily good, hard-working Hartlepool people lose their seats. I’ve seen canvassers working night and day in this election and it’s all been for naught and the reason has absolutely nothing to do with them. …