Glasgow, United Kingdom – Voters in England’s local council elections have delivered a damning verdict of Labour as it took hundreds of seats from the UK’s governing party, in what is seen as another major blow for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.While many results from Thursday’s municipal poll in England have yet to be declared, the populist right-wing Reform UK party have made sweeping gains at the expense of Labour, which has so far lost some 300 councillors across the 136 competing English councils.An excess of 5,000 English council seats were up for grabs in the contest, which Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, said was seeing “Labour … being wiped out by Reform in many of their most traditional areas”. Reform UK has also gained more than 500 seats and four councils as it looks to mount a serious challenge to Labour in the next UK general election, expected to be held by 2029.“Reform will understandably celebrate these results from their campaign, but will have to turn their attention to the more challenging business of governing,” James Mitchell, a professor at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science, told Al Jazeera.“Gaining a base in local government can be an important base from which to mount a challenge at the next election, but it comes with confronting and dealing with problems … Much will depend on how Reform performs in local government.”The Labour Party, which is viewed as shifting to the r …
