British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party was facing heavy losses as results began to come in from local elections across the country on Friday morning, while the far-right Reform UK party surged and the far-left, anti-Israel Green Party registered gains.
Most results from the election on Thursday were expected to come in later on the following day. But as of early Friday morning, Labour had already lost control of five local councils out of 25 that had declared results, and lost more than 100 seats in total.
The anti-immigrant Reform, meanwhile, had gained nearly 200 seats across the local councils.
The Greens had more modest gains as of Friday morning, picking up 12 seats by 5 a.m. local time (7 a.m. Israel time), according to The Telegraph.
Labour’s losses were set to heap more pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer and showcase the rise of the hard-right and left-wing populist parties, both of which face accusations of antisemitism and bigotry at a time when Jews in the UK are under increasing threat.
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The result could amplify calls for Starmer, 63, to resign or finally face a long-rumored party leadership challenge.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria leave a polling station in central London, on May 7, 2026 after casting their votes in the local elections. (AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“The picture has been pretty much as bad as anyone expected for Labour, or worse,” said John Curtice, Britain’s most respected pollster.
The elections for 136 local councils in England, alongside the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, represent the most significant test of public opinion before the next general election due in 2029.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, and the Greens, led by self-described eco-populist Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, are expected to be the main beneficiaries of widespread disillusionment.
Farage hailed the preliminary results, saying the elections were “exceeding anything that I thought.”
“I think what you’re witnessing is an historic change in British politics. Forget Left-Right, there is no more Left-Right. It is gone, it is out of the window, it’s finished,” he told reporters, according to The Telegraph.
Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, speaks to residents near the scene where two Jewish men were stabbed in the Golders Green neighborhood of London, on April 30, 2026. (AP/Alastair Grant)
The Green Party has surged in recent polls, as its leader focused much of his campaign on opposition to Israel and accused Starmer of being on a “Zionist” payroll.
Last week, Polanski faced backlash — and later apologized — after retweeting a post that criticized police for the manner in which they subdued an attacker who had just stabbed and seriously wounded two Jewish men in an antisemitic attack in London.
This week, UK media reported that the Green party was investigating more than 30 local council candidates for alleged antisemitism, including at least ten who downplayed or justified violence against Jews.
While the party said that some candidates have already been suspended, it dismissed the problematic members as only a small minority of those running.
UK Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer poses with party leader Zack Polanski after winning the Gorton and Denton Parliamentary by-election, in Manchester, England, on February 27, 2026. (Paul Ellis / AFP)
The head of London’s Metropolitan Police said Sunday that British Jews are facing their greatest-ever threat, which he called an “epidemic” of antisemitism.
In recent months, in addition to the stabbing, two synagogues and one former synagogue have been targeted for arson, and four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were burned down, amid other incidents.
Monitoring groups have reported an upsurge in antisemitic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the Gaza war, which was sparked by Hamas’s terror onslaught in Israel on October 7, 2023.
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