Keir Starmer on the brink after elections hammering: Live updates

John Swinney has not ruled out pushing for a second independence referendum as he said it is vital to ensure the Scottish Parliament is ‘Farage-proofed’.

He said:

There are now more pro-independence MSPs than at any time in the history of the Scottish Parliament. The way forward on this must be made in Scotland, the results across the UK made clear why the need for independence is so urgent.

Nigel Farage is now galloping towards Downing Street and the prospect of a Reform-led government is more likely than not. The UK may well soon have a prime minister who is openly hostile to minority groups, who has called for the privatisation of the NHS and the abolition of the Scottish Parliament.

It is vital that we unite in Scotland to ensure our parliament is fully Farage-proofed. That means having the power before 2029 to decide our own constitutional future without Farage being able to block us.

First Minister of Scotland John Swinney said people have voted for pro-independence ‘by a landslide’ – despite not achieving a majority.

His party won 58 seats on Friday, a drop from the 64 MSPs elected for the party in 2021.

Mr Swinney had set his goal at winning an overall majority at Holyrood, saying that would provide a renewed mandate for a push for Scottish independence.

‘The people have now spoken,’ Mr Swinney said. ‘The SNP has won the Scottish Parliament election, and we have won it emphatically.

‘The people have voted for a government that is on Scotland’s side, and they have voted by a landslide for a pro-independence government.’

He added: ‘We’ve also won a higher share of the vote than Keir Starmer did across the United Kingdom in 2024, an election widely described as a landslide.’

Sir Keir Starmer gave a job to former prime minister Gordon Brown as he sought to shore up his position following Labour’s electoral drubbing.

Mr Brown will be the Prime Minister’s special envoy on global finance, helping forge international co-operation, including with the European Union.

The Prime Minister also appointed former deputy Labour leader Baroness Harriet Harman as his adviser on women and girls.

The decision to offer unpaid, part-time roles to two of the biggest names from the last Labour government comes after Sir Keir suffered a disastrous set of election results in Wales, Scotland and English councils.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has said his party will seek to form a minority government in Wales, as he spoke to reporters outside the Senedd in Cardiff.

He added the party would reach out to other Senedd members for support on an issue-by-issue basis.

I have tried to make it as clear as I can throughout the course of the campaign, and prior to that, that I am somebody who always seeks to work within the spirit of co-operation.

I made it clear that my desire, if we were able to, would be to form a minority Plaid Cymru government.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth today hailed a ‘new beginning’ for Wales and said no prime minister ‘can cast Wales aside or turn a blind eye to our needs’ in a victory speech on the steps of the Welsh Parliament.

Plaid unseated Labour as the biggest party in the Senedd for the first time since devolution yesterday, taking home 49 seats – although was still short of a majority.

Speaking on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, he said becoming the biggest party in the Senedd is a ‘momentous piece of Welsh history’ and that his party is ‘ready’ to govern.

The Plaid nominee to be the next First Minister of Wales added:

This is history made by the people of Wales.

It has been an honour to work on this campaign, but this campaign could only build on the work that has been done over a century of believing in our nation’s future.

The Prime Minister is now addressing the appointments of Labour veterans Baroness Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown announced earlier, as he insisted that bringing them back is a ‘future-looking’ move.

Mr Brown has been appointed as a special envoy on global finance and Lady Harman has been made an adviser on women and girls.

Sir Keir said:

I want women to have the opportunities that they deserve. I want to be able to tackle misogyny, I’ve made commitments on this and Harriet working with the team is the absolutely right person to do that.

So, it’s very future-looking, because this is about making sure that every woman has the opportunities that she deserves. And so Harriet will lead on that work, working with the Cabinet, working with the team.

For Gordon, obviously, one of the big challenges we face is global finance. The war in Iran is causing real problems, economic impact.

We need more spending on defence and security, that needs to come together around international mechanisms, and Gordon’s got a track record on that, and so that is building the strong economy of the future.

So, on both fronts, they are very future-looking roles. They are vital to how we strengthen our country and take it forward, and provide the opportunities that give people that hope for a better future.

Sir Keir Starmer has again insisted he will not quit and promised to offer more ‘hope’ from his Government following yesterday’s disastrous elections for Labour.

The Prime Minister said: ‘I’m not going to walk away from this, that would plunge the country into chaos.

‘But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to respond. It doesn’t mean we don’t need to rebuild. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need to set out the path ahead. That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.’

He said one of the ‘unnecessary mistakes’ made by the Government was levelling with the public about the financial and international challenges facing the country, but not setting out how their lives would improve.

Sir Keir said: ‘The hope wasn’t there enough in the first two years of this government.

That’s why it’s important for me now to set out where hope resides. It resides in our young people having the future to go as far as their talent or ability will take them – to genuinely have that because if you’ve grown up in poverty, you don’t get that chance.’

Sir Keir Starmer said he would be ‘setting out with clarity the convictions and values that drive me’ in the coming days, as he continues to defy calls to quit in the wake of Labour’s disastrous results in the local elections.

During a visit in south London, the PM said: ‘We did make a number of really important calls in the last couple of years about stabilising the economy, investing in our public services, not getting drawn into the war in Iran.

‘We need to couple to that to the arguments we’re making about hope and the future, about young people, about place, and so I will be setting out those arguments, but more than anything setting out with clarity the values and convictions that drive me.’

Labour MPs have mocked Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to bring back Labour heavyweights Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman today, saying it is ‘pure gimmick’ and will not save his premiership.

One told the Daily Mail the ‘pure gimmick’ and ‘nonsense’ move suggests the Prime Minister doesn’t ‘grasp the scale of the challenge’ after Labour’s electoral wipeout.

A senior backbencher said: ‘It’s nuts. But more importantly, it’s ineffectual.’

A cabinet minister joked to the Mail: ‘I’m waiting for the ghost of Barbara Castle to appear on the steps of No.10.’

A second scathingly reacted: ‘It doesn’t exactly scream THE FUTURE does it?’

Plaid Cymru is set to gather its 43-strong team of Welsh parliamentarians together, as the party sizes up the prospects of forming the next Government of Wales while Labour licks its wounds from a historic defeat.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, has effectively declared victory for his party in the Welsh elections, after it became the largest party in the new Senedd – marking the first time since devolution that Labour has been unseated.

However, Plaid fell short of attaining a majority of 49 Members of the Senedd (MSs).

This means it will either have to enter a coalition with other parties if it wishes to form a Government, or a less formal arrangement where rival political outfits agree to back it in certain Senedd votes.

Plaid will ‘reach out’ to other parties with urgency, Mr ap Iorwerth said on Friday, adding that he plans to put his name forward to be nominated as the next first minister.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens have all ruled out the prospect of working with Reform UK, which is the second largest party in the new Senedd with 34 MSs.

Labour, with its nine MSs, would be an obvious coalition partner for Plaid to reach a majority. The two parties have a history of governing together: the Welsh nationalist party has previously been a junior coalition partner to Labour between 2007 and 2009, and also agreed a co-operation deal with Welsh Labour in 2021.

By Jason Groves, Political Editor and Claire Ellicot

Andy Burnham is poised to throw down the gauntlet to Keir Starmer next week as the Prime Minister struggles to cling to power.

Allies of the Greater Manchester mayor on Friday night said he had identified a potential Westminster seat that would enable him to return to Parliament, opening the way for a leadership bid.

One outrider for Mr Burnham told the Daily Mail: ‘Andy is ready to go and this time he will not be stopped.’

However, Friday’s bloodbath at the ballot box threatens to make it trickier for the former health secretary, as the notion of a ‘safe seat’ dwindles and Labour fears losing Manchester to Reform.

Read the full story below:

While the vast majority of councils in England have now declared their results, five out of the 136 that held elections on Friday have not.

The councils that we are still waiting for are: Bradford, Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets.

All five are expected to declare by this evening.