Sir Keir Starmer ‘carrying on’ after major Labour losses

He acknowledged it had been a “tough” night for Labour but said that “days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised”.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made gains across the country as hundreds of Labour councillors were voted out, although the party gained no seats in the Oxford City Council elections.

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Sir Keir faces further heavy losses as vote counting continues throughout Friday in both English local elections and contests for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.

Mr Farage said the results showed a “truly historic shift in British politics” away from the old era of Labour and Conservative domination, vowing “the best is yet to come” for his party.

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage

In Wales, Labour is expected to lose the national vote for the first time in more than a century while the SNP appears likely to remain the largest party in Scotland after 19 years in power.

Sir Keir, speaking on Friday morning, said: “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.”

Sir Keir has already faced speculation about his position; with the Times reporting Energy Secretary and former leader Ed Miliband had urged the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure.

But Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy urged his party not to play “pass the parcel” with the leadership in response to the election results.

And Defence Secretary John Healey said Sir Keir should be given more time, saying “he can still turn it round”.

Labour sources pointed to poor local election results under previous prime ministers, including Sir Tony Blair who lost 1,100 councillors in 1999 but went on to win re-election in a landslide in 2001.

After 41 of 136 English councils had declared full results. Labour had lost control in eight, losing 204 seats.

This comes after the Oxford City Council results gave no clear majority with negotiations now likely to take place to map out the future makeup of the authority.

With Labour winning 10 seats, the Green Party winning nine, Liberal Democrats winning four, and Independents winning one.

In total the Labour party have lost five seats, leaving 20 councillors overall. Meanwhile, the Green party gained five seats, now with 13 councillors overall.