LIVE: Farage boasts Labour and Tories are being ‘wiped out’

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.

by Jason Groves, Political Editor

Labour have taken a battering at the hands of Nigel Farage in a mega round of local elections that will seal Keir Starmer’s fate.

Overnight results point to stunning gains for Reform UK in what was once Labour’s Red Wall.

In Hartlepool, Labour lost every seat to Reform. The local Labour MP, whose wife was among the defeated candidates, made the first of what will be many calls for Keir Starmer to resign.

The psychological blow is hard to overstate.

In Angela Rayner’s backyard, in Tameside, Labour lost all but one seat to Reform. Fellow cabinet minister Lisa Nandy saw Labour lose every seat to Mr Farage’s party in Wigan.

These are areas that stayed Labour even in the great Brexit election of 2019 when Boris Johnson made sweeping inroads into the party’s heartlands.

Labour have already thrown in the towel in Wales, where they had seemingly ruled forever, and there is no prospect of the hoped-for revival in Scotland.

The results also underline the fracturing of the UK’s two-party system. Labour is losing votes to everyone, everywhere.

Speaking in Havering after Reform UK won control of the east London council, Nigel Farage said he was ‘thrilled and delighted’ at his party’s results in the local elections.

Asked by reporters whether the success was a result of a protest vote against the Labour government, he said:

It cannot continue to be a fluke or a protest vote. I can honestly say you are witnessing an historic shift in British politics. This (Reform UK) is now the most national of all parties.

Mr Farage added Labour and the Conservatives were being ‘wiped out’ in their traditional heartlands and said Reform would bring a mix of new ideas and experience.

He added:

We all know that finances of local councils all over the country are severely stretched. We are not promising miracles but we are promising good value for money.

The result in Havering now means Reform has won 299 council seats in what is proving to be a hugely successful night for Nigel Farage and his party.

Reform UK have won control of Havering Council in east London after winning at least 28 of the 55 seats in the local authority where previously residents and ratepayer groups had a majority.

The Prime Minister, speaking to local Labour members, admitted he had made ‘unnecessary mistakes’ as he promised to set out how he will deliver change.

He said:

We’ve made some big calls, to stabilise our public finances, to invest in our public services, not to get dragged into a war in Iran.

But we’ve also made unnecessary mistakes, one of which was that although we were right to level with the public about the scale and depth of the challenges we face, we didn’t do enough to convince them that things will get better, that things will improve, the hope.

And that is why in the coming days I’m going to set out the steps that we will take to deliver the change that they want and that they deserve.

The Prime Minister has promised a reaction to Labour’s terrible performance in the local elections.

Speaking in London this morning, Sir Keir said:

When voters send a message like this we must reflect and we must respond. I think the vast majority of people do understand that we face huge challenges as a country.

We’ve had a series of economic shocks in recent years and there’s a very difficult international situation at present, they know that.

But they still want their lives to improve, they still want to see the change that we promised, they know the status quo is letting them down and they’re frustrated, they don’t feel the changes.

Reform are claiming victory in Havering where the party says it now has full control.

It would be the second council win for Reform after taking Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Conservatives earlier this morning.

Sir Keir Starmer said he took responsibility for Labour’s ‘tough’ local election results.

In his first remarks this morning, the Prime Minister said:

Days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised. The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.

We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party. And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.

The SNP’s Finance Secretary says a majority for her party in the local elections would give a ‘clear mandate’ for another referendum on Scottish independence.

Shona Robison, who is standing down from Holyrood, said the SNP would continue campaigning for independence if it falls short of a majority as some polls have suggested.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast show, Ms Robison said an SNP majority would be a ‘clear mandate’ for another referendum on Scottish independence.

Asked what would happen if her party fell short of this, she said:

Well, we will continue to campaign for independence. And actually there could be a scenario where the parties who support independence yet again get a majority at the Scottish Parliament.

Keir Starmer’s worst nightmares are taking shape today as Labour suffers an extraordinary battering from voters in local elections.

Calls are already emerging for the PM to go with results overnight showing a bloodbath for the party across English councils. A meltdown is also looming in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd later.

A Labour MP who saw his wife lose her council seat as Reform surged in Hartlepool repeated his call for Sir Keir to step down.

Jonathan Brash said: ‘I’m looking for change at the top of the Labour Party.’

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said a leadership challenge ‘must be on the table’ if the disastrous showing continues.

The Labour group leader in Hull has also demanded the PM heads for the exit door.

It remains to be see whether the calls will intensify throughout the day

Senior Conservative Sir James Cleverly has said it has been a ‘tough night’ for his party but a ‘disastrous’ one for Labour.

Speaking to the PA News Agency, the shadow housing secretary said it would take time for Kemi Badenoch to get her message across.

Well, as predicted. It’s been a tough night for us, but we’ve made some real gains, against expectations. I’ve just heard we’ve taken control of Westminster Council. We held Fareham in Hampshire, Harlow in Essex, Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, and so we have got real pockets of good news in what we always knew was going to be a tough night.

I think Labour have had a disastrous night, and we can see why, with the terrible situation they’ve created at a national level.

Sir James acknowledged Reform UK ‘are doing well’ but insisted Nigel Farage ‘has still got big questions to answer’ about a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne.