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Friday, May 8, 2026

LIVE: Greens beat Labour to Hackney mayoralty as Reform win in Essex

The Greens have beaten Labour in the Hackney mayoralty to mark the party’s first major win in the local election

Zoe Garbett declared ‘today we start a fightback’ as she was elected the first non-Labour mayor in the borough since the role was created in 2002.

The mayoralty was identified as one of the Greens top targets heading into the election with Zack Polanski’s party receiving 5,720 votes to Labour’s 26,865.

Meanwhile, Reform has taken control of Essex County Council from the Conservatives after securing at least 40 of the 78 seats up for election.

It comes after Nigel Farage boasted both Labour and the Conservatives face being ‘wiped out’ in the local election results marking what he described as a ‘historic shift’ in UK politics.

Meanwhile Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to stand at the next election despite a calamitous night for Labour which has led to calls inside his own party whether he can remain as Prime Minister.

Follow live updates and reaction from the 2026 UK local election results 

UK local election results: See our live-updating maps and charts across the country

Take a look at our live-updating maps and charts produced by the Daily Mail’s Deep Dive team for the latest election results across England, Wales and Scotland.

1pm update – Reform leads the way as Labour loses power in 10 councils

We’ve now had declarations from a third of councils in England.

With 45 councils in England having fully declared their results, Labour has won 54 per cent of the seats it was defending while the Conservatives have won 69 per cent of the seats they were defending, according to Press Association analysis.

Reform has so far won 32 per cent of the seats it contested.

Let’s take a look at the current state of play:

Nigel Farage’s party has so far won 339 seats plus council wins in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Essex

Lost 208 seats and control of Blackburn, Exeter, Hartlepool, Oxford, Redditch, Southampton, Tameside, Tamworth, Wandsworth, Westminster

  • Conservatives

Lost 103 seats and control of Essex and Newcastl-under-Lyme but gains Westminster from Labour

  • Liberal Democrats

Gained 30 seats and won control of Portsmouth and Stockport councils

Gained 22 seats Won Hackney mayoralty

Labour council leader calls on Starmer to quit

The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, under Labour control since 2011, said Keir Starmer ‘has to go’.

As Labour lost multiple seats with counting continuing in the Lancashire town, Councillor Phil Riley told the Press Association:

I heard David Lammy on Radio 4 this morning saying that he (Starmer) is not coming up on the doorsteps. I don’t know what doorsteps he has been on but it was certainly coming up on the doorsteps I have been on. Keir Starmer has a very poor reputation with people out there.

His poll rating of minus 40, whatever it is, I think accurately reflects what people at the moment in this country think about him and that’s a real challenge. Getting back from that position, I think, is virtually impossible.

He has clearly done a very good job in terms of foreign affairs but I think the party lacks political direction. I believe he has to go.

Zack Polanski – Country has rejected Keir Starmer

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 08: Zack Polanski, Leader of the Green Party congratulates Zoë Garbett as she is elected as the new Mayor for Hackney after the Hackney council election on May 08, 2026 in Hackney, London, England. The 2026 London local elections saw millions of voters across the capital head to the polls to elect 1,817 representatives for all 32 London boroughs. Results expected to be declared from early Friday morning through Saturday afternoon (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Green leader Zack Polanski has said ‘my message to Keir Starmer is it’s time to go’ and ‘the country has clearly rejected you’ in the local elections.

Mr Polanski was speaking to reporters in Hackney, where the Greens won a decisive victory in the contest for the directly-elected mayor of the borough.

He said:

My message to Keir Starmer is it’s time to go. The country has clearly rejected you. I think he’d been rejected before these elections even started.

We had 14 years of Conservative austerity. Keir Starmer was voted in on a promise of change and, actually, what we’ve seen is very little change, and in many ways things have got worse.

Diane Abbott – Removing Starmer won’t avert disaster in 2029

Labour grandee Diane Abbott has warned replacing Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister won’t avert Labour from a disaster in the next general election.

Ms Abbott, a staunch critic of Sir Keir, told her followers that while the PM is ‘very unpopular’ it is Labour policies that is driving people away.

Here’s what she had to say:

Labour lose control of Blackburn Council

Labour have lost control of Blackburn Council after Reform and Independents won enough seats to take the authority into no overall control.

Zach Polanski celebrates with Hackney’s new Green mayor

HACKNEY, ENGLAND - MAY 08: Zack Polanski, Leader of the Green Party congratulates Zoë Garbett as she is elected as the new Mayor for Hackney during the count for the Hackney council election on May 08, 2026 in Hackney, England. The 2026 London local elections saw millions of voters across the capital head to the polls to elect 1,817 representatives for all 32 London boroughs. Results expected to be declared from early Friday morning through Saturday afternoon (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Zack Polanski, Leader of the Green Party, congratulates Zoe Garbett as she is elected as the new Mayor for Hackney during the count for the local elections.

Writing on X, Mr Polanski said:

The Greens win our first ever directly elected Mayor – a huge historic victory. Huge congratulations to Zoë and the entire team.

Two party politics isn’t dying. It’s dead and it’s buried. And we’re making hope normal again.

It marks a significant win for the Greens ahead of more results in London this afternoon.

Defeated Labour mayor – Government has ‘a lot of work to do’

Labour Party candidate Caroline Woodley gives a speech after Green Party candidate Zoe Garbett (left) was declared the winner for the 2026 London Borough of Hackney mayoral election at Hackney Service Centre, east London. Picture date: Friday May 8, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Defeated former Labour mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley said the Labour government ‘has got a lot of work to do’ after she lost to the Green Party.

Speaking after Zoe Garbett was won with 35,720 votes, Ms Woodley congratulated the new Green Party mayor on her victory.

‘To Zoe, you’ve shown great determination and resilience, and I know you have the support of the council to continue the good work we have done as a liberal administration,’ Ms Woodley said.

Labour got 26,685 votes, losing the mayoralty which it has held since the directly-elected position was created in 2002.

Ms Woodley added: ‘To my Labour government, you’ve got a lot of work to do, but thank you for the investment in housing.’

Labour council leader – Reform turned local elections into ‘Keir Starmer referendum’

The Labour leader of Barnsley’s council said Reform had turned the local election campaign into ‘a Keir Starmer referendum’.

Sir Stephen Houghton told the Press Association:

This is the local election that never was. It’s about national issues.Reform have campaigned, not about Barnsley, because they’d struggle to find criticism.

They’ve campaigned about Keir Starmer, and turned it into a Keir Starmer referendum. And that’s what they’ve been trying to do the whole way through.

And that has made it difficult for us. So some people who never vote have turned up because they want to make their protest against the Government and Keir Starmer.

Asked if the Prime Minster should resign, Sir Stephen said:

I think this goes deeper than the Prime Minister.

Greens win Hackney mayoralty from Labour

Green Party candidate Zoe Garbett gives a speech after being declared the winner for the 2026 London Borough of Hackney mayoral election at Hackney Service Centre, east London. Picture date: Friday May 8, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire

The Green Party’s Zoe Garbett has been elected mayor of Hackney, ousting Labour.

Speaking after she ousted Labour, which has held the mayoralty since the directly-elected position was created in 2002, Ms Garbutt said:

Today we start a fightback.

In this election, over and over, people kept telling me that they felt let down. People kept saying, ‘it’s hard for me and it’s hard for us’. Council services are failing those who need them most and people are struggling to make ends meet.

To everyone who voted for me, I truly thank you for putting your trust in me today.

Breaking:Reform wins control of Essex County Council from the Tories

Reform UK has won control of Essex County Council from the Conservatives after securing at least 40 of the 78 seats up for election.

The Conservatives had held control of the council since 2001.

Reform UK member Russell Quirk told the BBC voters had vented their ‘disquiet’.

He said:

It’s proven by the results that [Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats] haven’t covered themselves in glory. This is a litmus test. A barometer of feeling nationally and locally.

Labour heading for crushing defeat in Wales

HAVERFORDWEST, WALES - MAY 07: Welsh First Minister and Labour Leader Eluned Morgan departs after casting her vote during the Senedd election at St Davids City Hall on May 07, 2026 in Haverfordwest, Wales. The 2026 Senedd election marks a major overhaul of the Welsh Parliament as the number of Members increases from 60 to 96. Under a new proportional system, voters cast a single vote for a party list across 16 new constituencies, each electing six representatives. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

After taking a battering in England, it appears Labour is heading for a crushing defeat in Wales.

The party has been the largest in Wales for more than a century and had won the most seats in the Welsh Parliament since its creation more than two decades ago.

But Labour is bracing itself for a brutal set of results in its former heartlands.

Sir Keir Starmer has already said he takes responsibility for a ‘tough’ set of local election results in England, where hundreds of Labour councillors have been voted out.

In Wales, a Labour source indicated the party’s vote had collapsed in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni and said it would be a ‘struggle’ to hold on to one seat – out of a total of six – in the constituency, which includes some of its South Wales strongholds.

Baroness Eluned Morgan (pictured), the First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour, has previously said she is at risk of losing her seat in this election, where she stood in the Ceredigion Penfro constituency.

Key Updates

  • Labour council leader calls on Starmer to quit

  • Zack Polanski – Country has rejected Keir Starmer

  • Labour lose control of Blackburn Council

  • Greens win Hackney mayoralty from Labour

  • Reform wins control of Essex County Council from the Tories

  • Angela Rayner faces fight to save own Commons seat as Labour loses council

  • Kemi Badenoch – I’m proud of our results

  • First union calls for Starmer’s head after local elections disaster

  • Starmer – Ed Miliband has made it clear he supports me

  • DEBATE: Can Badenoch save the Tories or should she strike pact with Reform?

  • JASON GROVES: Reform is extending its reach while Labour loses votes to everyone

  • Nigel Farage – You are witnessing historic shift in British politics

  • Reform win Havering council

  • Reform claim victory in Havering

  • Starmer – I take responsibility for very tough election results

  • Will Labour calls for Keir Starmer to resign grow after local elections nightmare?

  • UK local election results: See our live-updating maps and charts across the country

  • Defence Secretary – Starmer can still turn it round

  • Westminster win shows Tories are ‘coming back in London’, says party

  • MP John McDonnell says leadership change ‘must be on the agenda’

  • Labour hold Ealing council, while Lib Dems keep control of Richmond-upon-Thames and Sutton

  • Tories take Westminster City Council from Labour

  • Reform UK take Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Conservatives

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