Friday 08 May 2026 3:03 pm
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the results were “tough” (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has resisted calls for his resignation as he takes responsibility for what he described as a “tough” set of local election results, as the Labour Party suffers from a Reform surge.
“I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos. We were elected to deal with these challenges and that’s what we will do,” Starmer said.
But Starmer’s party has held on to some key London boroughs so far, including Merton and Hammersmith, though it lost Wandsworth and Westminster in tightly-fought battles with the Tories.
Nigel Farage hailed a “historic change in British politics” as Reform gained Havering, its first London council, as well as a swathe of seats in the North of England.
In an early sign of Greens’ popularity in metropolitan areas across the capital city, London Assembly member Zoe Garbett was elected mayor in Hackney.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party is showing “signs of renewal” despite losing 80 council seats so far.
More than 5,000 council seats are up for grabs, including every single council seat in London. Previously dominant in the capital, Labour could lose a raft of London boroughs as it faces bitter challenges from Reform UK on its right flank and the Green Party on its left.
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Zack Polanski’s resurgent Greens are targeting inner-city areas like Lewisham, Lambeth and Hackney – as well as Starmer’s backyard in Camden.
Nigel Farage’s Reform, on the other hand, are hopeful they can take outer boroughs like Hillingdon, Bromley and Bexley.
Starmer’s party are defending 2,557 seats at this set of elections and some pundits have suggested they could lose up to 1,800. This would be a stunning wipeout which would send Labour reeling and put the Prime Minister in perhaps his weakest position yet.
The City is bracing for market backlash from the elections and a potential Labour leadership challenge.
Markets have held their nerve so far on Friday, but analysts have warned the “woo-woo” bond market could fall into chaos as the political aftermath of the elections takes hold.
Get yourself up to date with our election preview and profiles of the state of play in every single London borough.
We’ll bring you every London result as it comes in, plus key market and political reaction, so stay tuned.
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