British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his ruling Labour Party have suffered heavy early losses in local and regional elections, counting shows so far, demonstrating deep voter anger with his government and raising new doubts about his future just two years after a landslide general election victory.The anti-immigration Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage and whose popularity has soared over the past two years, is the main beneficiary of Labour losses so far.Elections for about 5,000 seats on 136 local councils in England, as well as in the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, are the United Kingdom’s most significant test of public opinion before the next general election, which is due in 2029.Here is a closer look at the results so far, and why they are significant.What are the election results showing so far?As counting continues, the populist, anti-immigration Reform UK Party has been sweeping up council seats across the country. It has gained 382 council seats in England, and could form the main opposition party in Scotland to the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and in Wales to Plaid Cymru.While it has gained seats on many councils, it only has overall control of two so far – Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in the north and Havering council, east of London.With 45 out of 136 councils having declared results by 9am (08:00 GMT), the Labour Party had already lost 258 council seats, leaving it with a total of 253 so far. Labour has …
