In contrast, both Labour and the Conservatives have suffered a sharp loss of support.
On average, Labour’s vote is down by 18 points on that in 2022 and 2024. The drop has been especially sharp in places where the party was previously strongest and in wards where many people identify as Muslim.
This pattern has helped to magnify the party’s seat losses, which constitute more than half of all the seats the party was defending. So far, the party has lost control of 23 councils.
But there was even worse news for Labour in Wales where it had not lost an election in a century. It crashed to third place with just 11% of the vote, down 25 points on the last election in 2021.
Plaid is now the largest party in Wales with 43 of the 96 seats, ensuring that all three devolved governments are now likely to have nationalist first ministers. This was in truth nothing but an earthquake.
Meanwhile, support for the Conservatives is down on average by 11 points since 2022 and 10 points since 2024, by which point the party had already lost much of its former popularity.
Support fell especially heavily where Reform support was highest, underlining the threat it is posing to Kemi Badenoch’s party. The Conservatives have also lost more than half of the seats the party was defending and, as with Labour, this was magnified by the fall in its support being greatest in places where it was previously strongest.
The party has had one bright spot – regaining control of Westminster, once a highly prized jewel in the party’s London crown that was taken from its grasp by Labour in 2022.