{"id":945039,"date":"2026-05-08T01:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/945039\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T01:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:48:33","slug":"u-k-local-elections-labours-starmer-braces-for-upsets-against-reform-uk-greens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/945039\/","title":{"rendered":"U.K. Local Elections: Labour’s Starmer Braces for Upsets Against Reform UK, Greens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at expected Labour Party losses in the U.K. local elections<\/strong>, Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/strong>\u2019s White House visit, and China\u2019s latest crackdown on military corruption<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The End of Britain\u2019s Two-Party System?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Local elections across the United Kingdom on Thursday are expected to expose growing dissatisfaction<\/a> with Britain\u2019s ruling Labour Party. Early polling predicts that voters will choose parties on the far sides of the political spectrum\u2014namely, the far-right Reform UK and the leftist Greens\u2014over mainstream candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is starting to look as if the two-party Westminster system, the Labour Party and Conservative Party duopoly that has dominated U.K. politics for more than a century, is coming apart,\u201d Jamie Maxwell writes<\/a> in Foreign Policy.<\/p>\n

Reform UK, a nationalist, anti-immigrant party led by Nigel Farage, is likely to emerge as the big winner on Thursday. In Scotland and Wales, Reform is predicted<\/a> to become the main opposition group in both devolved national parliaments. Labour is expected to lose control of the Welsh Parliament for the first time since the body was created in 1999.<\/p>\n

Reform will also likely expand its control of local councils in England. About 5,000 seats are up for grabs. However, surveys suggest<\/a> that Labour, which currently holds more than 2,000 of the contested seats, could lose around 75 percent of these spots.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Green Party, a left-wing progressive party led by Zack Polanski, is also expected to sweep council seats in England. It could even threaten Labour\u2019s strongholds in London and other major urban centers.<\/p>\n

Such upsets are likely to renew pressure<\/a> for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected in a landslide less than two years ago, to resign. Since the 2024 general election, the Labour leader has faced criticism<\/a> for his inability to deliver on key economic promises, chief among them to improve the cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n

Starmer has also taken heat for appointing Labour veteran Peter Mandelson<\/a> as the U.K. ambassador to the United States despite his known association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson was removed from the ambassador post last September, and British authorities arrested him in February for misconduct in public office related to his close ties to Epstein. (Mandelson does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.)<\/p>\n

With Starmer\u2019s historically low approval ratings<\/a>, experts are treating Thursday\u2019s elections as a referendum on his leadership of the Labour Party. Starmer\u2019s potential challengers<\/a> for the premiership include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.<\/p>\n

Yet Starmer won\u2019t go down without a fight. Over the weekend, he called on Britons to \u201crise to this moment together\u201d against the threat of political division<\/a> and reiterated his intention to finish his five-year term.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer to this moment, to the world we face today, \u200bis not passive government. Nor is it the populists who look out at the world and offer only easy answers that would make us weaker, or bankrupt,\u201d Starmer wrote<\/a> on Substack. \u201c\u200bThis is a time for patriots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Most Read<\/strong><\/p>\n

What We\u2019re Following<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lula in Washington. <\/strong>U.S. President Donald Trump hosted<\/a> Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva at the White House on Thursday. The talks focused on issues concerning security, trade, and critical minerals, with Trump posting<\/a> on Truth Social that additional meetings will be scheduled in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Few specifics emerged from the summit, leading many to question whether events in the last year\u2014marked by public insults and economic backlash\u2014threatened to undermine the two ideologically opposed leaders\u2019 fragile truce<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since Trump took office last year, the White House has subjected Brazil to harsh trade penalties, including a 50 percent tariff<\/a>\u2014one of the highest rates against any U.S. trading partner. Trump said the duties were in response to what he called a \u201cwitch hunt<\/a>\u201d against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced<\/a> to prison in September for orchestrating an attempted coup.<\/p>\n

The United States has now withdrawn most of its levies against Brazil, but tensions remain. Lula has denounced Trump\u2019s threats against Cuba<\/a>, the U.S. war in Iran, and the White House\u2019s insults toward Pope Leo XIV<\/a>. In March, Brazil blocked<\/a> the U.S.-backed renewal of a World Trade Organization e-commerce tariff moratorium\u2014sparking Trump\u2019s ire again.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department has imposed<\/a> sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over his role prosecuting Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s anti-corruption crackdown. <\/strong>Two former Chinese defense ministers were given suspended death sentences<\/a> on Thursday for graft charges. A military court handed down the sentences to Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe but granted a two-year reprieve<\/a>, meaning that they could be commuted to life imprisonment without parole after two years.<\/p>\n

Li and Wei were expelled<\/a> from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in June 2024 for \u201cserious violations of discipline.\u201d Li\u2014who disappeared<\/a> for roughly two months the previous year\u2014was accused of accepting \u201chuge sums of money\u201d in bribes, offering bribes to others, and not fulfilling his political responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Wei\u2014who disappeared from public view in March 2023 after a cabinet reshuffle\u2014was accused of accepting a \u201chuge amount of money and valuables\u201d in bribes as well as helping others to \u201cgain improper benefits in personnel arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s ruling underscores Beijing\u2019s ruthless commitment<\/a> to tackling military corruption. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP has purged several high-ranking officials, including Zhang Youxia<\/a>, China\u2019s top general and Xi\u2019s longtime ally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese arrests are political, first and foremost; anti-corruption is just a cloak in which the politics are wrapped,\u201d Deng Yuwen argued<\/a> in Foreign Policy following Zhang\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

A fragile truce in Lebanon. <\/strong>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned<\/a> that \u201cno terrorist has immunity\u201d on Thursday, a day after Israeli forces said they had killed a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. The precision strike on Ahmed Ghaleb Balout was the first such attack on Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs since the Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire<\/a> went into effect last month. Hezbollah has not confirmed<\/a> the attack on Balout.<\/p>\n

Balout, the head of Hezbollah\u2019s elite Radwan group, \u201clikely read in the press that he had immunity in Beirut,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cWell, he read it, and it is no longer the case.\u201d The prime minister added that \u201canyone who threatens the State of Israel will pay the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both sides have traded fire<\/a> in other parts of Lebanon in recent weeks, leading many experts to call the cease-fire a truce in name only<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Lebanon\u2019s health ministry, Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. That same day, Hezbollah said it carried out 17 operations against Israeli troops in the vicinity, while the Israeli military said it had targeted more than 15 Hezbollah infrastructure sites.<\/p>\n

Odds and Ends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Millions of people belong to South Korea\u2019s largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order. As of this week, that group now includes a robot.<\/p>\n

Gabi, which translates to \u201cBuddha\u2019s mercy,\u201d became the first robot<\/a> to be ordained as a Jogye Order monk on Wednesday. Wearing a ceremonial robe and rosary, Gabi recited the five precepts (or vows) that it must live by: to respect life, not damage other robots or objects, follow humans\u2019 commands, not engage in deception, and save energy by not overcharging.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ordination of a robot signifies that technology must be used in accordance with the values of compassion, wisdom, and responsibility,\u201d the Jogye Order said in a statement, adding that it \u201csymbolizes new possibilities for the coexistence of humans and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at expected Labour Party losses in the U.K. local elections,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":945040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,33,393,4884,6219,28383,1144,122898,6565,36765,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-945039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-elections","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-homepage_regional_europe","14":"tag-nationalism","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-paywall-free","17":"tag-populism","18":"tag-post-to-buffer","19":"tag-scotland","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116536444429955265","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=945039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=945039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=945039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=945039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}