The 2026 UK local elections marked a historic turning point in British politics, signaling the definitive end of the two-party system that had dominated the country for a century. Reform UK's unprecedented surge, combined with significant losses for Labour across England, Wales, and Scotland, demonstrates how voter dissatisfaction with established parties has driven a fundamental restructuring of the political landscape. The combined vote share of Labour and Conservatives has fallen to just 35%, while Reform UK now commands approximately 27% of the vote, positioning them as the largest party in a hypothetical general election. This shift reflects broader societal changes including voter frustration with the cost of living, immigration, and NHS waiting lists, as well as a growing appetite for political alternatives that offer perceived honesty and straightforward leadership. The breakdown of traditional political strongholds, particularly in Labour's historic heartlands, suggests this transformation is permanent rather than temporary.
The Wrap | Friday 8 May 2026Added:
Tonight on the rap, disaster for Labor in the local elections as reform continue their surge. Karma's party loses big in England, Wales, and Scotland. But the prime minister says he's not quitting.
>> I'm not going to walk away from those challenges have plunged a country into chaos.
>> Nigel Farage hails a truly historic shift in UK politics as Reform UK celebrate widespread gains.
We're winning councils all over the place in the north of England and it's particularly the northeast, Yorkshire, the Northwest. Remarkable result.
Wales total humiliation for Labor after a century of control as the first minister loses her seat in the Senate.
And in Scotland, the S&P looks set to remain the largest party, but short of the majority they wanted to demand another independence referendum.
Joining me this evening, the investigative journalist Susie Boniface and the spectators deputy political editor James Heel. And we will take a first look, of course, at the front pages of tomorrow's papers, including many that are going to be pretty uncomfortable reading for the prime minister.
Good evening. Good to have you with us here for the rap. Saki Starmer says he will not stand down as Labour leader despite his party suffering huge losses in elections in England, in Scotland and in Wales. Nigel Farage is calling reforms gains a truly historic shift in UK politics. Uh Susie James, is that what we're seeing here? Do you think a truly historic shift? Is this a big moment?
>> Look, we're living in a time of really splintered politics. I think we actually just need to step back. It's not one moment. It's a process that we've been through over the past like 10 years. And when Kama says I'm not going to plunge the country into chaos, he's failing to recognize we are in chaos and have been for some time. We now live in an area of seven party politics. Um, and we are in such a situation that whenever another election is held, it's more likely that nobody's going to be able to be an outright winner. There will be no clear and consistent government. And I think we're in a situation where if he is the man that he has always told us he is, that he puts the national interest first, it's in the national interest to try to heal some party unity, to try to bring people together. And maybe he's not the person to do that. And it' be in the national interest him to step down, have a a quick leadership election, and then maybe go into the next election where you have at least perhaps only three or four parties arguing over the bone rather than all seven.
>> You've covered 15 bases in two paragraphs. That is exactly why you're here. James, what do you think? Well, I think these are probably going to be the most important set of local elections since 2017 and we saw that snap election called the result of it and the whole face of British politics was changed with Theresa May. Uh look, I think that these are important because they confirm what we've already known which is that we've moved from the two-party system into one where there are sort of five or six >> or seven >> seven even you know I was talking to someone to the Scottishification of English politics where you've now got sort of uh parties winning on 15 20% of the vote obviously a nationalist first minister in Cardiff that makes three across the United Kingdom and I think we are going to see a lot of challenge and a lot of debate in the Labour party about the prime minister's future over the next couple of weeks. Well, if the results which are in so far are projected into a nationwide vote, the UK would end up with a hung parliament in a general election with reform the largest party. Let's have a quick look at the current state of play. And this is the picture for the council elections in England. As you can see, huge gains from well almost zero to for reform up to uh 1,400 more than 1400 seats and 14 councils into the bargain. huge drop for Labor as well as of course uh this is the situation in Scotland uh so far as we mentioned S SNP the largest party but not quite where they want to be more results coming in there as well of course regionally uh this is the vote share in Scotland too uh so you can see the S&P very big Labor not quite where they wanted not necessarily translating into the kind of control they would want in the in Hollywood and And the change in vote share as well uh will look not great for the S&P if you look at it from that point of view and particularly good uh for reform which of course is mirrored right around the United Kingdom. Let's have a look at Wales because that really is where Labour have been pretty much destroyed down to nine uh losing 35 there and yes ply Camry after threatening uh to uh take more seats in previous elections a century in the making I think Karina Bjor said their leader uh and they're the biggest party there but again no overall control they're going to have to do deal with someone and they as the vote share as well you can see reform implied really it was a two- horse race there for who's going to be biggest and that's the change as well again showing what we've seen across uh the United Kingdom reform putting on a lot but also in Wales in particular ply Cry uh taking a lot from Labour as well so chewing all this over our political editor Beth Rupy >> Kstarma out early in Elin in London here to meet Labour activists and get his message out after presiding over one of Labour's worst ever local election performances.
>> The results are tough. They are very tough and there is no sugar coating this. We have lost brilliant Labor representatives across the country. I take responsibility.
>> Take in responsibility but not accountability.
>> Did you contemplate this morning that the responsibility is that it's time for you to go and to resign?
>> Let me be clear. These are really tough results. I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
>> Did you contemplate that the problem might be you that you might need to go to help Labor win these seats back? Did you even contemplate it? Do you acknowledge it as a conversation even?
>> Look, I think it's absolutely clear that the electorate are fed up with the fact that their lives aren't changing quickly enough. But we haven't done enough to convince people that things can improve, their lives can get better. To be clear, you are not going to resign.
>> No, I'm not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos. We were elected to deal with these challenges, and that's what we will do.
>> Are you going to stand as prime minister at the next general election?
>> Yes, it was a 5-year term I was elected to do. I intend to see that through.
>> Starma determined to stay, but his party being drowned as reforms turquoise wave crashed over Labour's heartlands in Tempside, St. Helens and Barnsley in Essex. Nigel Farage arriving for a victory lap. Reform have won big across the country. Nigel Farage landing here in Essex for another rally. Having started in London, gone up to the north where he's eaten into Labour's Red Wall and here in Conservative territory taking the Council of Essics. Based on these results, Sky News election experts predict that reform is heading to be the biggest party in a general election if one were held. Uh >> do you see yourself as a prime minister in waiting now?
>> Well, look, you know what I thought yesterday was about was effectively in grand national terms our beaches brookke. A big fence we had to clear. We cleared it >> very very well. There's still a lot more to do. I'm not take I'm not taking anything for granted whatsoever.
>> You would be short of majority though.
You'd be 42 seat short in the projections. The obvious question is would you ever do a deal with the tries?
>> It's one of the last things I want to do.
>> 26,865 votes.
>> Zach Palansky's Green Party also doing serious damage to Labor, winning its first directly elected Green Mayor in Hackne for the first time. This is a historic victory. This is the first time the Green Party have ever won a directly elected mayor. And two-party politics is not just dying. It is dead and it is buried.
>> The Lib Dems making gains in Portsmouth and Stockport and holding on to Eastley and Richmond sending a message to the tries.
>> You have failed as a party. Uh you failed in government nationally. You've failed in local government across the country. taking seats from the Conservatives who've lost hundreds of counselors but crumbs of comfort for Kem Beno.
>> We had lots of great results in Westminster, in Monsworth, in Broxport, in Harlow, in Basel. The Conservative Party is coming back >> for Labour. As the day wore on, it went from bad to worse. Labour's Welsh first minister looked close to tears as her party lost the Senate after holding power in Wales since the dawn of devolution nearly three decades ago.
Ellenard Morgan even lost her own seat.
>> Wel Labor has today suffered a catastrophic result.
It ends a century of Labor winning in Wales and the party will need to take a really hard look at itself. And Pied Camry's reneworth storming to victory but without an outright majority in Scotland. Bad news for Labour too. One of their worst results ever. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sawa called for Star to resign in February and he stuck with that as the results rolled in.
>> Does he need to take responsibility?
>> I said what I said back in February and I stand by that, but I'm going to focus on what this means for my party here in Scotland and my party is hurting today and it's my job to hold it together.
Labour had hoped after the 2024 general election to perhaps rest Hollywood back from the S SNP. Instead, the incumbent set to hold the Scottish Parliament for an unprecedented fifth term, but expected to fall just short of a majority. Nigel Farage and Zap Palansky have called these elections historic, and they truly are. What we're seeing is the breakdown of the two party system that's dominated our politics for a century. As the patchwork of Labour red and Tory blue is painted over with a rainbow of parties holding power across the country. Reform are now a truly national party and the de facto opposition if you look at their spread and their support. And as for Labor, shell shock is the word. Losing Wales, the Red Wall, Red London. Star says he'll fight on and senior figures are starting to come out to back him, but at best it seems that what he's won is a stay of execution. In the coming days, Starmmer will mount a fight back to try to persuade his party he can be the change, but the ballot box tells a different story that tries he might, he perhaps can't rewrite. Beth Riby, Sky News.
Sam Coats, our deputy political editor, has join joined James, Susie, and me.
Let's just cut to the chase. Where does this leave Karma? He says he's staying put, Sam, as I ruin the set. Um, but can he? He's in a battle for his life, Matt.
I mean, this is the most challenging, I suspect, 72 hours that Downing Street will have had uh uh I think over since um uh since he became prime minister.
Um, look, we're in a world where right now there is a race between a gradual drip drip drip of Labour MPs who are coming out and saying sort of slightly in code. We want a timetable if he doesn't up his game to to go and cabinet ministers are coming out to to shore him up. But we don't know how many of the at the moment there's only seven of these MPs that have come out today. They're pretty influential as Labor MPs go and you can see that spiraling. And if you've got a Emily Thornbury or a Meg Hillier adding to that, then I think it just like nitroglycerin just go woof.
Um, on the other hand, you've got these cabinet ministers showing up. But what's really noticeable tonight is it wasn't like the last time that we had that when Anna Saw for him to go. This time only most of them have come out. And some of them, and I'm looking at you, Lisa Andy, and you cooper have given quite nuanced, not particularly personally backing uh uh endorsements of this government and haven't particularly honed in on why they think Karma should stay. So, I smelled trouble all over this. That's why I think the next few days are crucial.
>> Interestingly, James, there Sam mentioned Anna Sawa. Well, his strategy didn't work, did it? trying to distance himself from Karma all those weeks ago because Labour did pretty badly in Scotland as everywhere else.
>> Well, then I mean Ellen Morgan's didn't work either, which was staying loyal right to the bitter end. She went down and lost her seat herself. I think look, Labour is in a jam for all sorts of reasons. Karma's um underwhelming premiership, I think it's fair to say, has been raised by lots of activists I've spoken to today. Um I think what's so telling is how the different areas of the country are affecting how people respond. So I'd make the point about Lisa Nandi for instance, she's just watched a load of Labour counselors lose their jobs and their livelihoods in Wigan. Uh you've seen people like Jonathan Brash, the Heartley MP, come out and call for Kama to go. His wife has just lost her role as a counselor and Heartley Poolool council. Uh so I think that it's a very bruised and angry party right now and that's why you're seeing these really lukewarm tweets about sort of it's not the right time, etc. There'll be lots of hush conversations over the next 72 hours.
Interesting, Susie, when we were watching K Dharma's response.
What did you think about that? Did it sound like something he could have said at any time over the past 18 months and may well continue to say for the next 18 months if he stays in position?
>> I was I was starting to sort of have flashbacks to um all those different prime ministers we had during the Brexit RS where they just came out and said the thing that had been prepared and programmed into them and they got pushed out and they said it. Now, on the one hand, you want to be sensible about this. The the losses aren't as bad as they were predicted to be. And if you're not as awful as expected, there's always an argument that you should stay on.
>> Sam Sam's eyes tell me it's just a very latest. They've been ticking up. They've been ticking. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty much >> eases. Um, and there's always the caveat that they say, well, look, it's local elections, it's lower turnout, it's not the same issues. People say this. So, that's for that person back at home who's shouting at this. They tell you right now. Uh but the fact is that the narrative around all this, the um the drama around it all and the fact is that the party is fracturing around him regardless of what happens and he's going to be I think if this continues in six months in a position where he's unable to govern. Now the problem is with Star if you go up to him right to the front and say I want you out as Bernham did as Anasawa did he will front you down. He's quite ruthless. He will uh take the legs out and he also holds the the reigns of the leadership election within the Labour party. So it is up to him. The only way to get him out is to appeal, I think, to his sense of decency and his sense of serving the national interest, if there is still one in there, and to say it's in the national interest. It's in the Labour Party's interest. It's in everybody's interest that you step down. Goodbye, >> Sam. Oh, no. I think you've got to drag him out. I don't I don't think that I don't think that strategy will work. I think that so long as his opponents show a degree of civility and a degree of kind of compassion, he will turn that on its head and use that to try and stay.
He's he he's a he's a bizarre largely unknowable figure. I always think Kier Stmer but the one thing he is in his own mind is competitive in that football sense and he doesn't want to be a loser and being you know going out of Downing Street earlier two and a half years after you won a landslide that that that's kind of losing. So I don't I don't I don't think I don't think I don't think Queensbury rules apply two things. One of which is very ruthless as Sam says and that's shown on the football pitch and it's shown in the political pitch as well. And second of all he doesn't have the instinctive love of the Labour party that a great figure who was brought in that tradition might do. I think he's someone who likes to win. He's fairly transactional. The deal he made was sort of he would sort of sell sort of himself as a certain vacuum 2020. It worked. He became prime minister. The problem was when he got there, he didn't discover what he wanted to do in number 10.
>> I wonder if he's drawing strength from the fact that his team Arsenal in the Champions League final seeing as you both mentioned football. Uh today's result does show a widespread rejection of Labour and the Conservatives despite what they have been saying today about a comeback. The two parties that have long dominated British politics. Our people and politics correspondent Nick Martin has visited Ashton underline in Greater Manchester to hear from voters there looking for change.
>> Who's this? This is Lily. Lily.
>> Hey Lily. You're all right. How did you vote?
>> Probably reform. You got reformed colors on. Look, >> I voted for a dinner. She said >> between them, Colin and Marianne tell the story of these local elections. They are fed up voters shopping around for a new party.
>> How did you vote yesterday?
>> Labor. Yeah, >> not Labor. Sorry.
>> Sorry.
>> Reform.
>> I'll say I'll start that again. How did you vote yesterday?
>> Reform. What is it about reform that appeals to you?
>> It's just not Labor.
>> Right. That's all I can say.
>> Anything but Labor.
>> What is Nigel Farage offering you then?
That Labor isn't >> a change.
>> I heard that a lot on the streets of Ashton underline. A labor heartland until reform came to town.
>> I've always been Labor.
>> Irene built computers at a factory here in the 1980s. She's now retired.
>> Who did you vote for yesterday?
>> Reform.
>> Why is that?
>> Because I've tried them all and the all feather their own nest.
>> Labour said when they won the election that they would make you feel more prosperous.
>> Yes.
>> Do you feel more prosperous?
>> No. No. I I'm I'm worse off.
>> What makes this especially difficult for Labour is where it's happening. In the political backyard of Angela Raina and Andy Bernham. two figures seen as future Labor leaders now surrounded by voters who've turned their backs on the party.
>> Chatting to people, there's a sense of pessimism. There's also a sense that they're not being listened to, that Labor aren't delivering on their promises and reform definitely seem to be capitalizing on that. Cost of living, immigration, these are the burning issues here.
>> What is Nigel Farage offering you then?
>> He's going to stop floaters coming across. That's that's a main one.
>> Not race, is it? near racist. It wouldn't bother me who live next door to me. We're we're nowhere near racist at all.
>> But you feel that Labour have not got a handle on it and reform can.
>> We've got to give them a chance. We don't know. You've got to give people a chance.
>> Can I call you back, Damian?
>> Daniel runs an estate agency.
>> I voted for independent because we needed someone that listens to the people. The council tax has gone up dramatically, not just for businesses, just for local people. Uh, everything seems to be going up, but we don't seem to be seeing any change.
>> Ashton is being developed. A long- aaited new shopping centers now being built. And around the corner, several stories up. Are the roofers rooting for reform? Barrage, what is it about him?
>> He's true. He's honest. I think straight to the point. He wants what's right for his country.
>> Truth. Honest. Straight to the point.
Yeah, >> like a roofer.
>> Like a roofer.
>> Nick Martin, Sky News. Ashton Underline.
>> Doesn't that just sum up the appeal for a lot of people? The the likes of Nigdel Farage and perhaps James to a lesser extent, Zach Palansky, they can talk straight in a way that the others don't seem to have. They don't have that, I guess, everyday approach to talking to people.
>> Yeah, absolutely. I think that the tradition of communication that they held from is a different one to a lot of Westminster politicians. You know, Niger has that kind of barntorming tradition.
He did public meetings for 25 years or so before it really sort of cut through in the mid-2010s. Um I think that that is one of his great successes. He speaks fluent human. Palansky comes from quite a different background, much more social media. I think you can arguely called him the sort of first social media poster as a leader. Both work and I think that they have shown that people want to try something new, but they also want leaders with whom they can have a rapport. And I think social media is a big part of that >> because Susie, more recently, people from across all sides have thought Kem Bay has upped her game. She's been doing better at PMQs and the Conservatives, as I alluded to previously today, were saying the comeback starts here, even though they also suffered some pretty sizable losses today. Is there some truth in that?
>> Yeah, the national polling and the polling among leaders is very different to what we've seen in some of the local election results. So you know all the narrative we've got about Starman disasters the rest of it if you line up all the national leaders together Farage does worse than Stalm if you ask people who you want to be prime minister Star is ahead of Nigel um and Bnock has certainly been improving but a lot of that is because of her performance at PMQs because she has um changed her some of her approach to things but uh that's you know that because it's working well on social media it's working well on sound bites it's working well on cutthroughs there's still not an huge amount of policy coming through and most people who are voting for reform have got no idea about wider reform policies.
Um because the vast majority of people in this country, they want to protect the NHS. They want to have green energy in power and they want to have free school. But at this point, the vibes are more important.
>> Exactly. It's all vibes. It's come down to vibes. Ben is is increasingly confident and that's coming across.
That's partly why she's doing better. I think um Star is increasingly lacking in confidence and under attack and that is making him seem less vibe. You know, it's just something that people are less interested in. And so I think we're not interested at the moment in the the politics, in the policy, in the meat and gristle of this stuff. It's all about the vibes. Whether that changes when we get nearer 2029. Hopefully it will do.
And we actually be talking about more substantive things. Um I mean, for example, some of the stuff today we've seen about what's happening in the Senate in Wales. You know, yes, we've got a nationalist party in charge there for the first time since the 13th century. All right? So that that's worth mentioning. But that massive change has happened because of a huge change in the electoral system. You know, you cannot compare the Welsh senith of today with that of yesterday because it was elected under an entirely different system proportional representation.
>> But you just compared him to Owan Glendor which really is going back centuries. Well, elections are of course all about the data and our data and economics editor Ed Conway has been taking a closer look at the numbers for us.
It's a pretty extraordinary set of results. Obviously, you've got a lot of data coming in, a lot of decisions that are going to affect your area particularly uh of the country. We'll start with England looking at I mean just take a step back and look at this change in the share uh of different council seats around the country. Uh obviously reform up by an extraordinary rate and just look at the Labor Party.
So, Labor down all the way there, 135, sorry, 1,355 seats down, only two up, and beneath the surface, you can see the changing complexion uh of England's local uh councils. And if you take those numbers and you plug them in to the various models uh that we have, working out what this might mean across the country as a whole, the national equivalent vote as it's known, this is what you get. So, this goes back a few years. So you can see the broad picture here. And here's the most striking thing. Look at that turquoise line. So look at reform up from basically zero down a little bit from the last time where they were over 30%. But still 27% equivalent vote across the country if you kind of extrapolate these numbers. Um whereas look the conservatives up a little bit but Labor going down down down in recent local elections and the Green Party as well uh with that performance particularly in London uh starting to reach up 14% the same as the lib dems there what happens though here's the question if you work out what that would mean theoretically in the house of commons if you were to append that to apply that uh to the number of seats in the house of commons and this is what you get look at reform so going from close to zero all the way up to 284 MPs short of an overall majority. But here's the striking thing too. Look, the Labour Party were previously they are right now on 400 MPs, just over 400.
That would go all the way down to 110.
An extraordinary shift from this landslide victory all the way down there. It is of course theoretical but that's the kind of message from these numbers today. This enormous polling exercise which which is what it is as well as a decision about local authorities. Then you've got conservatives libms uh S SNP as well. Um have a look at this. Okay this is the interesting thing is what does this mean for the picture of politics in the UK and the two-party system. This is just taking totting up the two-party vote for the Labour party for the Conservative party going back to the 1970s. And look, for most of history, it's accounted for 50% or more of the total vote, but not anymore. And this is what people mean are talking about when they're talking about the end of two party politics. The combined vote share of the two big parties, or the legacy parties, perhaps we should call them, down to just 35%.
So, a real shift there as well. On top of that, of course, we've had news uh from Wales, the Senate election here, and disastrous for the Labor Party.
Obviously historically this was the area one of the strongholds for the Labour party but now not anymore they're in third place reform up third by 34 in terms of the number of representatives there and then plighted Cumry at the top so it's Labour down there in third place then the Conservative party only shortly after them. Um but really again it's the history here that's really striking. If you look back over the history uh of the Welsh Parliament since 1999, look at where the Labour Party have typically been in terms of their share of the votes, it's around 40%, 30% 40% 30% 40% and now 12%. Again, historical stuff given, you know, if you go back even further than that, this has been seen as a Labor stronghold. And finally, Scotland. say the parliament elections, Scottish Parliament elections have come through. And on the face of it, a strong performance from the S&P uh share of the vote 38%. But now look beneath the surface and what do you see? You see the S&P losing votes, losing popularity. You see the Green Party going up, getting hold of some of those constituency seats, and you see reform up by 16% and climbing in the Scottish Parliament. You can see that the politics, the picture of politics across the UK has started to change as a result uh of these elections.
Well, let's look across the UK right now in a bit more detail, especially at the situation in Scotland and Wales. In a moment, we'll hear from Connor Gillis who's in Edinburgh for us this evening.
First, let's head to know where Dan Whitehead is. And Dan, really this evening, Wales politically at least looks completely different to anything that the Welsh have seen before.
>> Yeah, the political landscape, the map has been completely redrawn here in Wales. It has been a disastrous day for the Welsh Labor Party. A century of rain here in Wales is over. That final nail in the coffin really was seen by Elellanena Morgan, the former first minister who lost her seat. And we really saw those results tumble down for Wales uh in the south of the country, those heartlands of Wales for so many decades. The former mining towns, the valley towns and villages and the coastal towns along the south going from red and going towards Pied and reform.
But it is plyed Camry the Welsh nationalist party which is celebrating tonight. Run up at the count just further along the prominard here uh in Glendo earlier today saying that he will now with urgency look to work with other parties as he looks to become the next first minister. He is tonight on his way to Cardiff. Expect to see celebrations and photo calls from Reap Yor tomorrow but also a really successful day for Reform UK. They're now the second biggest party in the Welsh Senate. The politics has all changed here in Wales.
But of course, you got to remember the whole system changed as well. The way people voted, the number of politicians, the constituencies, there's now 96 members of the Senate and only nine of them are Labor members. That is an absolutely fundamental shift in politics here in Wales. How and why has this happened? Well, look, Labour has had a very difficult record over recent years.
big issues that we see nationally like NHS waiting list, the cost of living, opportunities for young people, but you know, we spent time in some of those valley communities and I think identity, not just there, but in places like Inismo and Anglesy here, Welsh identity and the identity of the of the of Welsh people when it comes to those former trades like mining and steel, those jobs going so intrinsically linked to what Labor meant here in Wales. And I think over the years that has ebbed away in a way and people like Nigel Farage and other parties and Ply Gumry have come in and perhaps capitalized on that disillusionment amongst uh Labor. So tonight we will see the parties led by Reinureth potentially try and figure out a form of coalition because although ply Cry were the biggest party with 43 seats they didn't hit the magic number of 49 which is a majority. If ply worked with Labor they'll get over 50. Maybe that is what will happen. We will see in the coming days. I think perhaps uh to end here tonight, the former first minister best described what happened. She of course woke up this morning as the leader of the Welsh Labor Party, the first minister of Wales. She ended tonight with no seat, having to resign and describing what has happened to Labour as catastrophic.
Dan Atlantina, thank you very much indeed. Let's head to Connor who is in Edinburgh where there already was a nationalist leader of course and he remains in the job Connor but not quite with the victory well so far at least that John Sweeney would have wanted.
>> Yeah, good evening. 13 and a half hours in and it feels like we are on the home stretch now. I'll get to the S&P in just a second but at the moment it is a very very close eyes on second place here.
The race is hotting up. There are seven seats left to declare here in Scotland.
And the current position as of right now is Labor are in second place. Reform are in third and there are just two seats between them. That could become the story of the next 24 hours. And if that happens for Labor, all things considered, after what has been a disaster for the party north and south of the border, then they might see some success in there somewhere. But yes, the big story today clearly is the SMP. The largest party once again, the nationalist dominance continues, entering their third decade in power. is truly remarkable when you think of where the party has been in recent years, mired in scandal, various leaders uh over the past couple of years. Uh the general election result where they were absolutely hammered less than two years ago and now we're talking about them being at the largest party. Now they have capitalized big time on a certain proportion of the voters who have had an anti- Westminster sentiment, frustration with Sir Kier Starmer and the way that he is playing his time in 10 Downing Street. The S&P had gone into this election with John Swinny at the helm hoping for a majority of seats seats here. They would say that would have been time for them to declare negotiations open. Game on for a second independence referendum. Well, they have fallen short on that it seems this time around. So, where does it leave the question of the constitution? Well, that is where the Scottish Greens come into the fold here. They are another pro-independence party here in Scotland and they have been big winners today as well, making gains in areas that they have never done before. So that will strengthen the pro-independence block here in Hollywood that you see uh behind me and they will likely be kingmakers in all of this. Just to recap and end tonight on what has been a major moment here in Scottish politics. Labor, yes, have been punished because of the prime minister. But Sirio Starmer has tonight sent a letter to Scottish Labor members.
And in it, he says, "When Scottish voters send a message like this, it's important to reflect and respond. Many within Scottish Labor will think that the prime minister should be taking his own words and heading out the door ASAP." Final word goes uh to reform. If they do solidify their place in third spot here in Scotland, let's remember they have come from nothing uh to clinch that spot. Malcolm offered their leaders say they will be the challengers. They will be the scrutiners. They're planning a victory rally here in Scotland along with the SMP tomorrow, but there's been silence so far from Labor.
>> Connor in Edinburgh for us this evening and to Dan as well, of course. Thank you both very much indeed. Well, let's have a look now at how this is playing out on the front of tomorrow's papers. Of course, there's really only one story in Well, there may be another story. We'll get on to that, but politically, there really is only one. The Guardian describes Labour's results in the elections as dire and suggests they will pile pressure on Saki Star to either make radical change or resign. The Telegraph reports that some Labour MPs and union bosses are now openly saying Sakir should go. In the FT, its headlines, Starifies MP's calls to quit as reform deals shattering blow. The Times keeps it to three blunt words.
Labour's historic battering. If we have a look at the Manchester Evening News, it ponders whether the city's mayor Andy Bernham might now be poised for a return to Westminster. A few hurdles to jump over before that can happen, but he still perhaps covers the top job. Uh, the Express pictures reform UK leader Nigel Farage in buoyant mood and as the paper puts it, vowing to fix Britain.
The Eye describes him as plotting a path to number 10. While The Sun largely steers clear of the elections, as I hinted at, leading instead with the separation of TV presenters Vernon K and Tess Daily. That news is also the main concern for the Mirror and it's the big splash for the star as well.
We will have a look inside the papers in a second, but just to bring you uh that result that I think is on your screen right now, Labour loses to an overall overall control. Uh Haringay Council, as you can see from the numbers there, they thought it might go to Green. Well, it hasn't. No overall control. Very tight there in terms of uh who would be the bigger party. Although you can see how many seats Green the Greens have put on.
0 to 28 uh in Haringay. Uh let's just have a quick word with James about that actually because we were discussing this James uh and you think that could be worrying in particular for the uh deputy prime minister David Lammy.
>> Yeah, absolutely. I think half the cabinet are now facing a wipe out the next election. Uh but only David Lambi I think will probably faces from the Greens. My understanding is there's a very concentrated ground campaign from the Greens there because of Lami's role as foreign secretary in what the UK did over Gaza. And I think he's got a lot of people locally very angry and a very anti-Lambi vote. So I think they'll take heart from this tonight. 28 out of 57.
That's a good result for the Greens and they've taken out the council leader on the Labour side as well.
>> Yes. Obviously went green in Hackne next door, didn't it? Which has long been a Labour Heartland. Let's have a look at the papers then. Uh Susie, let's start with the uh the Times. Uh historic Labour's historic battering. I mean to the point uh as many of the headlines are there.
>> Well, every every time there's been a local election result for somebody, it's historic. It's a matter of history. Um, John Major lost 2,000 seats once.
Margaret Thatcher lost a thousand seats.
These people didn't resign. There will be people within the Labour Party telling Kia Starmer tonight he doesn't need to bother because um he's still got three years to go because he could turn it around because da da da da it's only local elections. People vote for something else next time and it's it's different. You're ahead of the polls in terms of Nigel Farage. The problem is what he's not being told. I don't think he appreciates all this stuff he's been saying about reflecting and service and all the rest of it. The man is political kryptonite now. He could he could come out tomorrow, right, and have a cameo on Bridgetton. He could he could win the traitors.
>> He could uh be the subject of next David Atenburgh's wildlife program. Everyone could love him. every law he's ever wanted to do could be passed and sailed through parliament and he'll still go to the ballot box 2029 and lose because of the first two years in which as we've seen so many times in those those packages we've seen tonight people don't feel any better off people do not see their potholes fixed people although they're you know waiting this maybe down you don't necessarily feel it very much on the NHS there's no real impact that you can really see and count and take hold of apart from things that you can notice that are bad like in Wales the 20 mph limit which which is the only thing Labour did people could actually see and complain about. You got similar things happening in in England where you have closed up shops and the death of the high street and nothing's being done to reverse that.
>> And I just think and raising council tax. We've heard nothing as you were saying earlier on James. We've heard nothing in this election cycle about potholes, council tax, street lights, send provisions, um social care, the kind of things that local authorities are there to do and provide. uh and no suggestions about how to cut that council tax or anything else. We've been talking just about the narrative and the characters in national politics and he is so disliked it really doesn't matter what he does and I don't think he's realized that yet.
>> It doesn't matter what he does. I don't think he's going on traitors. I think she probably sick of traitors right now, isn't he?
>> The prime minister. Let's have a look at the uh the Guardian James. Dire election result pile pressure on the PM is their headline. In contrast to the times, their picture is of that man again, Nigel Farage.
>> Yeah. I mean, because Nigel Farage is the best campaigner in modern British politics and he has won again and again and again elections. The challenge of course is whether he can govern. We shall wait and see. Uh but of course his winning comes at the expense of Labor.
And what was so striking to me was seeing those results come in last night and huge chunks across the north of England, some of those spiritual heartlands moving plus 35, plus 40 on block to reform. Wasn't just going to conservative. it was going they were taking Labor votes and that's something Raj has always been able to do and I think it's no surprise now that we're asking where are the heartlands you know Tories in Essex uh labor in the south of Wales Labor in the north of England all these places are going reform and reform are winning places that Boris Johnson couldn't win in 2019 and this is mercy side and I think that's why one is smiling and the other is now fighting for political life but let's remind ourselves of the context yes the whole of Wales has voted Scotland the same not the whole of England right so it's not a true picture of where things might go.
If we roll on to the FT's headline, Star defies MP calls MP's calls to quit as reform deals a shattering blow. Look, I know Susie, you said he is kryptonite, same color as your cardigan.
>> But but as you also said, he's he has a mandate. He has a large majority and he's got a few years left.
>> He does and there'll be people saying that he can turn this round. The trouble is that although Estate is very ruthless when it comes to ensuring his own political survival and taking out enemies, he has been completely lacking in ruthlessness in getting an agenda through. Yeah.
>> Um he hasn't had much of an agenda and he you know the one really solid thing.
>> Let me just even defining what the agenda is because if we go back sure they had the uh the manifesto and then they did things that weren't even on the manifesto like cutting winter fuel. The agenda seemed to be getting there, the Mingvars across the floor and then once they're there going, "Well, this will do, won't it?" No, it doesn't. Then you have to start the work. And that's because they didn't have a plan. The civil service just kind of had him in their pocket and they could do whatever they wanted with him. So, he's had one really solid promise that he made in that election, which he has tried to live by, which is the Hillsborough law, the legislation to stop scandals and cover ups like the post office, like Grenfell, like the nuclear veterans, the duty of Canada. Um and he's had two years to get that through and it's still not done because it's been mired in arguments and process and he's allowed it to to do that. He's dithered and he's delayed and that's how he's dealing with everything. Everything is a social care review. Yeah. Uh inquiries internal looking at things. Nothing is ever decisively done and just taken ultimately Karma has a loathing of politics and if you're not interested in politics politics will be interested in you. You can't try and take the politics out of this. he has done and I'm sorry this sort of technocratic way this disinterest in actual outcome this failure to be across the detail uh you can talk to not just sort of you know critics of his party but insiders officials labour spads I've spoken to Labour special advisers who were horrified at how little planning there was for government so Graham Morgan which we all blame each other on that front um they looked in there there was nothing in there and I'm sad to say the country and the Labour party and I have friends of the Labour party who are paying the price for that today >> I I spoke to someone who was at number 10 for a while and saying what's on the grid, what's on the communications grid, what's on the policy grid. We didn't have a grid. And that just speaks volumes, doesn't it?
>> A lack of planning.
>> A lot of similarities with the Boris Johnson administration, which is a comparison Star absolutely hate. But both of them were non-politicians who decided to say, "We can do it without politics. We can do it because we say the right thing." And had no real plan.
Weren't across the details of different ways >> in terms of taking him out. I think it'll be more like Boris Johnson where he's almost there and the scores of ministers sort of like Zulu are coming at him and resigning rather than I think this idea of whis K star proceeding to the library with a whiskey and a revolver you know.
>> Yes. But if we look at the front page of the Daily Telegraph the main headline there is MPs break cover uh with calls for Stars to quit. We've talked about some of their number Louise Hey, maybe Emily Thornbury might join in. But we should remember that some of these were people that he decided to shift out of the cabinet. In fact, both those two names. So could you say they have an axe to grind and they would say this, wouldn't they, James?
>> They could, but you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Um Ian Mardo said that the Labour party was like a bird in need wing and a right wing. Kama has not taken that approach to government. He's clipped the left wing and it's gone one.
>> So it's going around a circle >> like a boat. And I think that's where we ended up with the left turning on the right. He's driven past the left out and that's joined the greens, I would say.
And he's driven a lot of the soft left onto the back benches. And unfortunately, there's not much there in terms of creative tension or thinking and they're all coming for him. Now, >> let's dive inside the uh the times uh because Farage's blades of glory after party. Sores is the uh the story there.
But um I think the one we want to look at is does it represent a stay of execution? You know, is that is that feasible that it could be a stay of execution here, do you think?
>> Well, can I just say one thing which is this this spread, my understanding is is based on the one that Robert Harris did in 1997 when he followed around Tony Blair hours before he became prime minister. And that I think is what we're potentially seeing when Tony Blair talked about a new dawn is broken. That is what is in the mind of Nigel Farage.
And credit to the journalist Patrick on a very good blowby-blow on the day that Farage remade the political map. I've drawn your attention to one that isn't on the screen, but let's focus on that one that is. And no, don't James, it's my fault because I was I was taken by that photo as well. Very distracting of Nigel Farage with his full grin. Um, but the embattled star granted a state of execution. I mean, is is that given everything we've been discussing, Susie, the Mingvas thing and the technocrat and all the stuff that we've talked a lot about, you know, really since he came to power going what's next, what's to come.
Do you think he could stay on feasibly if the these voices are there and you've got people with ambitions that we hear about like West Streeting and Angela Raina and obviously the king of the north Andy Burnham? I mean could he really hang on with Labour? He has the reigns of selecting the next leadership. So unless he wants to go, he can stay until 2029.
uh he has shown himself fairly impervious to public opinion and to be of the opinion that he can ride it out and get through to the end. So I think there's probably no reason that he sees at the moment to do anything else. The losses weren't as bad as predicted blah blah blah blah. Um and you know reforms lead appears to be ebbing slightly, but that doesn't mean that this man isn't electro kryptonite on the doorstep. Um and I think once you get into power and you get away from that doorstep, he's no he is not aware anymore of how it really plays. I don't remember the I don't know the last time he actually went out to play football.
>> A Labour friend once >> he was a security team.
>> A Labour friend of mine once compared the party's backbenches to Churchill's view of the Americans. They always do the right thing after doing everything else first.
>> And I think that is what the Labour Party is going to be talking about the next couple of months. Could we do this?
Could we do that? Etc. It's messy. It's going to be bloody. And it's just like Theresa May in 2018 dead man walking.
But until someone actually prepares to do something about it, >> well there is something he could do which is like you said the left wing and the right wing. If he can find a way, if you can find it within himself somehow to rebuild party unity to say, "Yes, all right, Andy Burnham, have your run.
Let's I'll I'll help you have your run and then you can come into cabinet and whatever or you lose. I don't care."
>> But I mean, it's funny you mentioned Andy Burnham because we'll have a look at the front page of the Manchester Evening News with its uh >> it's red colored picture of Andy Burnham. But is isn't it a bit late to hold out an olive branch to him having having prevented him from standing in Gorton and Den?
>> The only hope now for any prime minister in the position that Karma is in is unity. Unity unity. Unity. Nothing else is going to last. And if he wants to make it through the next year, the next two years, he has to bring the whole party with him because it is splintering and fracturing around him. It's not just us speculating. It's them.
>> Just 30 seconds on that. When the Mandlesson thing was hitting hard, he addressed the Parliamentary Labor Party and they came out of that room saying, "Wow, we hadn't seen him like this before." Showed a bit of emotion, showed that he cared and then that hasn't really carried him through. Has he got the energy? Has he got the the the Gaul to do that again, do you think, James?
>> I think it's a question of diminishing returns and you can do it in private, but the problem is you can't take all the country into your sort of closed confidences behind the doors of room committee room 14 in the House of Commons. And I think that actually it's a point where you know they weigh that up but they also see the memories of those tearful counselors standing in sports hall this morning and I think a splinter of ice will enter the heart of a lot of Labour MPs in the coming months.
>> Thanks both for the moment. See you again in a second. But coming up in the sport in a moment an early end of season award for Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandez.
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>> Well, we're going to head straight to Red Bridge now where uh West Streeting, the local MP and obviously government minister is speaking.
>> For good. On Monday, Kan will be setting out how he will do that as our leader and prime minister. He will have my support in doing that and I'll continue putting my shoulder to the wheel as the health and social care secretary who's getting the NHS back on its feet and making sure it's fit for the future there for all of us when we need it.
>> Health secretary, this has been a disastrous result for Labor in England, Wales, and Scotland. A lot of your MPs are unhappy. A lot of your mems are unhappy. They're pointing fingers directly at the prime minister. To be clear, do you think that Kier Star can turn this around? that there's no sugar coating it that across the country in England, Wales, and Scotland, we've seen some extremely bad results for the Labor Party. We have to respect the voters, take the feedback on the chin, and accept that the government nationally bears a huge amount of responsibility for good Labor people losing through no fault of their own. On Monday, Kier Stan will be setting out as our leader and prime minister how he intends to make sure that our government still can deliver the change that people voted for at the last general election can still show that politics can be a force for good. And here in Red Brbridge, I'm really proud of the fact that we buck the national trend. Uh we will come in voting, but it's very clear now we're going to get a decent majority. We're winning in Ilford North where we took seats from the Conservatives and beat the leader of the Red Bridge Independence showing that whether it's opponents to our left or opponents to our right, we can still win as Labor. Uh so for all of those naysayers that were saying that I couldn't win Ilford North at the next general election, I will be standing here in Ilford North at the next general election. This is my home.
I've served this community for well over a decade. I'm not going anywhere. I'm in it to win it. Are you ruling out a leadership vid? Uh >> the prime minister was elected at the last general election on a mandate of change. He delivered a majority that people thought was absolutely impossible after the crushing defeat of 2019. Now we have seen through the votes cast across England, Scotland and Wales that the government nationally bears a huge amount of responsibility for good Labor candidates losing through no fault of their own. And it is our responsibility to show the voters as a team that we've got the message, that we can still deliver the change they voted for at the last general election, that politics can be a force for good, and that labor can be the change that the country wants to see. Uh Kier Stan will be setting out on Monday as our leader and prime minister how he plans to do that. He will have my support. I will continue putting my shoulder to the wheel as is health secretary delivering uh the improvements in the NHS that people are crying out for and we're beginning to see and I'm really proud that here in Red Brbridge we buck the trend we've shown that whether it's opponents to our left or opponents to our right that Labor can still win can still be the change I'm proud of the result here I'm particularly proud of the results in the Ilford North Wards and I'll be standing here at the next general election too >> health secretary you say that you support the prime minister now do you think he's the right person to lead Labor into the next general election.
>> Karma won a general election in 2024 that people thought was absolutely impossible after Labour's crushing defeat in 2019. Now, there's no doubt that with the message that the voters have sent us across England, Wales, and Scotland that the government bears a huge degree of responsibility for good Labor people losing. We have to take that on the chin. We have to respect the voters and we have to show that Labor can still be the change that people are crying out for, the change that they voted for at the last general election, the change they've demanded through this set of elections. Here in Redbridge, we've shown that Labor can still win.
Whether it's against opponents who position to our left or position to our right, whether it's the Greens or Reform or the Independents or the Conservatives, we've been winning here and we've won in Ilford North. and we can still win and be the change that the country is crying out for. And K Starman will set out in his speech on Monday how he intends to change how the government operates to change uh the country for the better in the way that people voted for at the last general election when we won an election that no one thought possible in 2019.
>> A lot of your colleagues in the parliamentary Labor Party would like to see the Labour Party shift to the left.
Is that the right move, do you think?
Here in Red Brbridge, we've bucked the trend and we've managed to uh win uh what still counting, but I think it's clear now. We've managed to win a majority again here in Red Brbridge and we've managed to see off opponents who position to our left as well as to our right. Whether that's the independents and the Greens, whether that's the Conservatives and reform across our burough and particularly in Ilford North, we have shown how Labor can win as Labor. It's not about trying to be someone else. We can win as Labor by being Labor and by being the change that people are crying out for across the country. Now, there's no doubt that in elections across England, Wales, and Scotland, good Labor candidates have lost through no fault of their own. We have to take responsibility for that as a government. We have to show that we can still be the change that people voted for at the last general election and show that politics can be a force for good. Kan will be setting out on Monday as our leader and prime minister how he intends to do that. He will have my support and I'll be putting my shoulders to the wheel as the country's health secretary. We're seeing real results in the NHS is finally on the road to recovery. So, lots done, lots more to do.
>> Health Secretary, what does the Labor Party need to do differently after these elections? Well, there's no doubt that the voters have sent us a clear message uh in England, Scotland, and Wales that uh the Labor government is not yet delivering the change that people voted for and we have to take responsibility as the government for for the fact that good Labor people across England, Wales, and Scotland have lost through no fault of their own. Here in Redbridge, we're showing how Labor can win, not by trying to be someone else, but by being Labor.
That's how we've seen off opponents to our left and to our right. That is how we will hold this burough with a majority and it's also how we've achieved such good results in Ilford North where we've gained seats from the Conservatives and beaten the leader of the Red Bridge Independent. So I'm very proud of this team. I'm very proud of our leader. I'm very proud to be part of the team here. This is how Labour wins as Labor as a team. That's what the prime minister will be setting out, I'm sure, on Monday and he'll have my support.
>> We know.
>> Thank you very much. Thanks guys. Just very quickly set >> that was West Street in the health secretary who I mean reiterated several times that the the prime minister is going to be setting out on Monday what his plan is and I think he also said several times he's ready to put his shoulder to the wheel and support him even though James a lot of people think when he says he's in it to win it he really wants to win the leadership well quite I mean we're treating is this government's best communicator and at times there it read like a hostage statement uh he ended on a triumphant flourish but the way he kept saying shoulder to the wheel, buck the trend.
Uh the prime minister crushing defeat. I mean 2019, right? I think the Labour party lost about 50 seats at that election or 70 or so seats from 2017 to 2019. That would be a a landslide victory compared to what they've had tonight. They've lost half their council seats. Um so we talk about crushing defeats etc. Um I mean unfortunately I think they're echoes of 2019 in tonight in which a lot of Labour Heartlands are going to their opponents.
>> Interesting. He was talking about, you know, we we win in red in uh in Ilford North, which is his constituency where I'm going to be running here again at the next election. He had very very narrow majority last time. I think you looked at looked at >> 528. He very scraped it last time, very slender >> and he's saying that they they're obviously winning there. But, you know, there's lots of comparisons. We treat in this country local elections a bit like US midterms. and they they are increasingly sort of a way of taking the voters's temperature but they're not you know they're not really discussing the local issues and they're not about uh the things and also when people are voting in the locals they are voting in a different way and for a different reason than they are in a general they are very inclined to want to punish people at local elections because they know what the effect will be and there are a lot of people who don't want karma to be prime minister including many many Labour voters who think if they vote a certain way in the locals they might get him out and get somebody else in and with streeting is clearly just saying over and over again, repeating the line, I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm winning right here. Look at me. I'm a winner, everybody. Um because he's, you know, everyone knows he's positioning himself.
But whether he gets the chance, who knows?
>> Well, yes, exactly. We don't know if he's going to stay for the duration he's going to go in the next couple of weeks.
I mean, it's not necessarily any clearer, but we knew it wasn't going to be particularly great for them tonight.
I think James, you vocalize how bad you really think it is. Thank you both very much indeed for the moment. I know you're going to stay with me as we head towards 11:00, but you are watching the rap here on Sky News. Uh, and it's been disaster for Labour in the local elections as reform continue their surge. As you've been hearing, Karma's party lost big in England, in Wales, and in Scotland. But the PM says he is not quitting.
>> I'm not going to walk away from those challenges and plunged a country into chaos.
Arj hales a truly historic shift in UK politics as reforms celebrate widespread gains.
>> We're winning councils all over the place in the north of England and it's particularly the northeast, Yorkshire, the northwest. Remarkable result.
>> Well, total humiliation for Labour after a century of control there as the first minister loses her seat in the Senate.
In Scotland, the S&P remained the largest party, but short of the majority they wanted to demand another independence referendum.
Joining me in the studio this evening, investigative journalist Susie Boniface and the spectator's deputy political editor James Eel. And we'll take a first look at the front pages of tomorrow's papers, including many headlines that are going to make seriously uncomfortable reading for the prime minister in the morning.
Good evening. You're watching the rap here on Sky News with me, Matt Barbett.
Sakir Starmer says he will not stand down as Labour leader despite his party suffering or rather sizable losses in elections in England, Scotland, and Wales. Uh today, Nigel Farage has called reforms gains a truly historic shift in UK politics. Susie and James are here with me. Um, do we think it genuinely is a huge shift, James? First, >> I think it is a shift. I also think it's a confirmation of trends that have been happening for a long, long time. You can look at how the death of the two party system has been playing out for sort of 60, 70 years. Some point it accelerates, some points it diminishes, but I think right now we have seen the foot on the accelerator. This is the full-on death of the two- party system tonight.
Whether that can be corrected or changed remains to be seen, but right now it's no surprise that Zack Palansky and Niger are the ones smiling. Susie, voters always vote differently as a group that is in local elections compared to general elections. So is this more of the same or is it in your opinion a moment a turning point?
>> It's a moment when we have as James was saying, you know, we have now about about seven different parties that are all on the national stage and five of them constitute none of the above as far as voters are concerned. And so if you are of the left, there are a couple of choices. If you're of the right, there's a couple of choices. And you don't have to pick the main one because you don't like them. And that's it. So you have this this situation where that everyone is now just roughly on level pegging which is nowhere near enough for anything. The only positive uh for people who don't like Nigel Farage and and the the right-wing politics is that the left is still a majority if you count Lib Dems and Greens and Labour together. Their share of the vote is still greater than the share for conservatives and reform. But you know they've still got a very successful insurgency going on. Um and it doesn't really matter whether their results are worse than expected which uh they are not as good as they were were planned to be and they definitely seem to be slightly less as a vote share than they have been in previous council elections but you know there's also not enough quite maybe for Nigel to get into number 10 but he can still be a huge disruptor.
>> Um and I think what really needs to happen is that he Kam needs to hear what Farage is saying when he's saying I want Kama to stay in his job. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Listen to him.
>> Yeah. Oh he must really love me.
Exactly.
>> There's a reason he says it.
>> If the results which are in so far are projected into a nationwide vote, the UK would end up with a hung parliament actually in a general election with Nigel Farage's reform as the largest party. Our political editor Beth Riby has been taking a look at the whole thing.
Karmama out early in Elin in London here to meet Labour activists and get his message out after presiding over one of Labour's worst ever local election performances.
>> The results are tough. They are very tough and there is no sugar coating this. We have lost brilliant Labor representatives across the country. I take responsibility. take in responsibility but not accountability.
>> Did you contemplate this morning that the responsibility is that it's time for you to go and to resign?
>> Let me be clear, these are really tough results. I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
>> Did you contemplate that the problem might be you that you might need to go to help Labor win these seats back? Did you even contemplate it? Do you acknowledge it as a conversation even?
Look, I think it's absolutely clear that the electorate are fed up with the fact that their lives aren't changing quickly enough, but we haven't done enough to convince people that things can improve, their lives can get better.
>> To be clear, you are not going to resign.
>> No, I'm not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos. We were elected to deal with these challenges, and that's what we will do.
>> Are you going to stand as prime minister at the next general election?
>> Yes. It was a 5-year term I was elected to do. I intend to see that through.
>> Starmmer determined to stay, but his party being drowned as reforms turquoise wave crashed over Labour's Heartlands in Tempside, St. Helens, and Barnsley.
In Essex, Nigel Farage arriving for a victory lap. Reform of one big across the country. Nigel Farage landing here in Essex for another rally. having started in London, gone up to the north where he's eaten into Labour's Red Wall, and here in Conservative territory, taking the Council of Essics. Based on these results, Sky News election experts predict that reform is heading to be the biggest party in a general election if one were held. Uh, >> do you see yourself as a prime minister in waiting now?
>> Well, look, you know what I thought?
yesterday was about was effectively in grand national terms our beaches brookke a big fence we had to clear and we cleared it >> very very well there's still a lot more to do I'm not take I'm not taking anything for granted whato so ever >> you would be short of the majority though you'd be 42 se short in the projections the obvious question is would you ever do a deal with the tries >> it's one of the last things I want to do >> 26,865 Five.
>> Zack Palansky's Green Party also doing serious damage to Labor, winning its first directly elected Green Mayor in Hackne for the first time.
>> This is a historic victory. This is the first time the Green Party have ever won a directly elected mayor. And two-party politics is not just dying. It is dead and it is buried.
The Lib Dems making gains in Portsmouth and Stockport and holding on to Eastley and Richmond, sending a message to the Tories.
>> You have failed as a party. Uh you failed in government nationally. You failed in local government across the country.
>> Taking seats from the Conservatives who've lost hundreds of counselors, but crumbs of comfort for Kem Beno. We had lots of great results in Westminster, in Wsworth, in Broxport, in Harow, in Basel. The Conservative Party is coming back.
>> For Labour, as the day wore on, it went from bad to worse. Labour's Welsh first minister looked close to tears as her party lost the Senate after holding power in Wales since the dawn of devolution nearly three decades ago.
Ellenard Morgan even lost her own seat.
>> Welsh Labor has today suffered a catastrophic result.
It ends a century of Labor winning in Wales and the party will need to take a really hard look at itself. And Pli Camry's renew storming to victory but without an outright majority in Scotland. Bad news for Labour too. One of their worst results ever. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sawa called for Star to resign in February and he stuck with that as the results rolled in.
>> Does he need to take responsibility?
>> I said what I said back in February and I stand by that. But I'm going to focus on what this means for my party here in Scotland and my party is hurting today and it's my job to hold it together.
Labour had hoped after the 2024 general election to perhaps rest Holly Reed back from the SNP. Instead, the incumbent set to hold the Scottish Parliament for an unprecedented fifth term, but expected to fall just short of a majority. Nigel Farage and Zap Palansky have called these elections historic, and they truly are. What we're seeing is the breakdown of the twop party system that's dominated our politics for a century as the patchwork of Labor red and Tory blue is painted over with a rainbow of parties holding power across the country. Reform are now a truly national party and the de facto opposition if you look at their spread and their support.
And as for Labor, shell shock is the word. Losing Wales, the Red Wall, Red London. Starmmer says he'll fight on, and senior figures are starting to come out to back him. But at best, it seems that what he's won is a stay of execution. In the coming days, Starmmer will mount a fight back to try to persuade his party he can be the change.
But the ballot box tells a different story that tries he might he perhaps can't rewrite. Beth Riby Sky News.
Uh just a few moments ago as we were starting this hour, the health secretary West Streeting turn up at the count in the London burough of Red Brbridge. He is the local MP there. He's also tipped as a possible contender for the top job should K star decide to not carry on.
But Mr. the street. He made a point of firmly backing his current boss.
>> Well, there's no doubt that the voters have sent us a clear message uh in England, Scotland, and Wales that uh the Labor government is not yet delivering the change that people voted for. And we have to take responsibility as the government for for the fact that good Labor people across England, Wales, and Scotland have lost through no fault of their own. Here in Redbridgeidge, we're showing how Labor can win. Not by trying to be someone else, but by being Labor.
That's how we've seen off opponents to our left and to our right. That is how we will hold this burough with a majority. And it's also how we've achieved such good results in Ilford North where we've gained seats from the Conservatives and beaten the leader of the Red Brbridge Independent. So, I'm very proud of this team. I'm very proud of our leader. I'm very proud to be part of the team here. This is how Labour wins as Labor as a team. That's what the prime minister will be setting out I'm sure on Monday and he'll have my support.
>> Susie Bonaface and James Heel are with me here in the studio. Let's just get your reaction Susie to what West Street had to say because he said what we heard him say there about three or four times over. It was kind that was the mantra.
That was the message and he was sticking to it.
>> Yeah. There's only so much you can say, isn't there? When you've had a terrible, terrible night, you got to be able to come out and say it was terrible. Uh, someone else is going to take responsibility for this on Monday, so speak to him. I'm winning where I am, but isn't everything marvelous?
>> Uh, and he just did that over and over again.
>> Yes. Um, he said he's in it to win it.
Do we think he could be in it to win the leadership? I mean, you know, if if the rumors are true and the briefings are to be believed and this kind of thing, he would like the top job.
>> Yeah. And he would been on camera joking about it. There was an amusing clip from 10 years ago saying, "Oh, you know, who' be the next prime minister?" He said, "Oh, I think it should be me. I think it'll be me." And and he did that with a smile. But everyone knows West Streeting is ambitious. And there's nothing wrong with ambition.
>> It's not quite king of the world, though, is it? Boris Johnson style.
>> No, not Aussie Mandis sort of style or deep into West Streeting's soul. But, you know, you hear all sorts, etc. You know, he's a self-made man and he worships his creator, but he is very talented. You can back that up. Um, but he's doing his best right now, not to give anything away. And he was there out there sort of spinning like Shane War.
He was doing his best. Um, I was thinking like Kamik Ali, you know, the sort of um, Iraqi spokesman as the tanks rolled in behind him. Right now, we are seeing the reform tanks being parked on Labour's lawns and we are seeing their votes disappearing in the sort of spring and I think that he's doing his best right now, but uh, he's waiting for others to act.
>> Let's set the context of all this because we've known these elections have been coming for months and months. We've been discussing them as a key point regardless of all the other travailes that Kier Starma has had to write out whether it be Mandolson or you tariffs or whatever it happens to be. We've known this moment was coming. Is it worse than Karma would have expected or is it about what he did expect?
>> Who knows what the internal polling shows the external polling was that it was going to be worse than this. Right?
>> And in case of expectation management, you get to the point where it's not as bad as we were expecting. So actually this is okay. It's survivable. We can find our way through it. But it's like saying, you know, you have a terrible relationship, a broken marriage, and it's all right. I only got hit once or twice last night, so I think we're on the road to recovery. You know, that's that's not the way to regard it necessarily. It's still bad. Even if it's not as bad as you thought it was going to be. Bad is bad.
>> Let's talk about who has had a good 24 hours. And you have to say that probably Hina Yorweather from Clyde Cumbry. He's the big winner in all three of the uh national polls here, isn't he?
>> Yeah, absolutely. It's 100 years since Blenry was founded. Uh they'll be delighted with this. Uh they now get to sort of spend the next five years as first minister establishing their credibility trying to build a new coalition. He's had a great success been a very good media performer in this and I think plighted have had played a very good tactical campaign making the most of the dha system and ensuring that was a two- horse race was very much the narrative squeezing the labor vote and sort of blowing through those old Labor areas. I think obviously Farage we talked about at length Bansky reasonably can claim a good night John Sweeney in Scotland basically anyone who isn't uh karma and um Ken >> interestingly though for apply Camry they didn't talk about nationalism and perhaps a referendum on independence for Wales in the same way that has played out in Scotland and and maybe that played into John Swinny not quite getting the result he wanted >> but there is an argument which is that Wales is basically 20 years behind the curve of Scotland on this which is that you know when the S&P came in 2007 oh we don't actually you know talk about independence will have a vote the first term but then what happened was Alex summon spent the next four years building support won an outright majority in 2011 and bang called that independence referendum for 2014 yes similar thing is you're now seeing ply being established as perhaps the natural party of Welsh government they will spend the next four or five years governing sensibly and then the second term they can then put on the ballot we will have an independent referendum >> Susie the conservatives want to have us believe that this is a turning point in the right direction for them is that the case >> well they are very much in the situation of having been beaten and battered by the voters for a considerable period of time. They got beaten and battered again last night and they're saying we didn't get beaten as hard as we did last time, so we must be on the up. Um maybe they feel they've hit the bottom and they're bouncing back off and all the rest of it, but they've only got a couple of London councils and the real problem I think for them is that a lot of the votes that went to uh reform both from Labor and the Tories were Brexit votes.
They were the levers in all those places that Nigel mentioned earlier on, different places around the country. And you know, the Conservatives have completely failed to take ownership of Brexit. They've just let that one go.
They haven't been able to make the argument that it was a success or admitted it was a failure and they've just let all those votes, all those people who who voted Nigel's way once are prepared to keep doing it again because they don't have any arguments to make on that. And those are the voters that they've lost.
>> Our economics and data editor Ed Conway has been taking a closer look at the numbers for us.
It's a pretty extraordinary set of results. Obviously, you've got a lot of data coming in, a lot of decisions that are going to affect your area particularly uh of the country. We'll start with England looking at I mean just take a step back and look at this change in the share uh of different council seats around the country. Uh obviously reform up by an extraordinary rate and just look at the Labor Party.
So, Labour down all the way there 135 sorry 1,355 seats down only two up and beneath the surface you can see the changing complexion uh of England's local uh councils and if you take those numbers and you plug them in to the various models uh that we have working out what this might mean across the country as a whole the national equivalent vote as it's known this is what you get so this goes back a few is so you can see the broad picture here. And here's the most striking thing. Look at that turquoise line. So look at reform up from basically zero down a little bit from the last time where they were over 30%.
But still 27% equivalent vote across the country if you kind of extrapolate these numbers. Um whereas look the conservatives up a little bit but Labor going down down down in recent local elections and the Green Party as well uh with that performance particularly in London uh starting to reach up 14% the same as the Lib Dems there. What happens though here's the question if you work out what that would mean theoretically in the House of Commons if you were to append that to apply that uh to the number of seats in the House of Commons and this is what you get. Look at reform. So going from close to zero all the way up to 284 MPs short of an overall majority. But here's the striking thing too. Look, the Labour Party were previously they are right now on 400 MPs, just over 400.
That would go all the way down to 110.
An extraordinary shift from this landslide victory all the way down there. It is of course theoretical but that's the kind of message from these numbers today. This enormous polling exercise which which is what it is as well as a decision about local authorities. Then you got conservatives Libd Dems SNP as well. Um have a look at this. Okay, this is the interesting thing is what does this mean for the picture of politics in the UK and the two-party system? This is just taking tottting up the two-party vote for the Labour Party for the Conservative Party going back to the 1970s. And look, for most of history, it's accounted for 50% or more of the total vote, but not anymore. And this is what people mean are talking about when they're talking about the end of two party politics. The combined vote share of the two big parties or the legacy parties perhaps we should call them, down to just 35%. So, a real shift there as well. On top of that, of course, we've had news uh from Wales, the Senate election here, and disastrous for the Labour Party.
Obviously historically this was the area one of the strongholds for the Labour party but now not anymore. They're in third place. Reform up third by 34 in terms of the number of representatives there and then plighted Camry at the top. So it's Labour down there in third place. Then the Conservative party only shortly after them. Um but really again it's the history here that's really striking. If you look back over the history uh of the Welsh Parliament since 1999, look at where the Labour Party have typically been in terms of their share of the votes, it's around 40%, 30% 40% 30% 40% and now 12%. Again, historical stuff given, you know, if you go back even further than that, this has been seen as a Labor stronghold. And finally, Scotland. say the parliament elections, Scottish parliament elections have come through and on the face of it a strong performance from the S&P uh share of the vote 38%. But now look beneath the surface and what do you see? You see the S&P losing votes, losing popularity, you see the Green Party going up, getting hold of some of those constituency seats and you see reform up by 16% and climbing in the Scottish Parliament. You can see that the politics, the picture of politics across the UK has started to change as a result of these elections.
That was a Conway. We have now heard from the Home Secretary Shabbana Mammud who has apparently posted on social media. Let's have a quick look at what her reaction to the results is. Here it is. A devastating night in Birmingham and across the country. She says, obviously that's where she's an MP. Good public servants, colleagues, and friends have lost their seats. This was a verdict on us, not them. The PM has rightly said we must do better. It is a privilege to serve the British people and we must live up to it. Not dissimilar from what we heard from West Streeting uh saying that well nationally uh Labour shoulder the blame or the government does. Uh let's look in more detail now at the situation in Scotland and Wales. First of all to Dan Whitehead who's in Clandidno for us this evening.
Yeah, the political landscape, the map has been completely redrawn here in Wales. It has been a disastrous day for the Welsh Labor Party. A century of reign here in Wales is over. That final nail in the coffin really was seen by Ellen Morgan, the former first minister who lost her seat. Uh and we really saw those results tumble down for Wales uh in the south of the country. Those heartlands of Wales for so many decades, the former mining towns, the valley towns and villages and the coastal towns along the south going from red and going towards pied and reform. And it is pied cumbry, the Welsh nationalist party which is celebrating tonight. Run up yorith at the count just further along the prominard here uh in Glendo earlier today saying that he will now with urgency look to work with other parties as he looks to become the next first minister. He is tonight on his way to Cardiff expect to see celebrations and photo calls from Reap Yor tomorrow but also a really successful day for reform UK. They're now the second biggest party in the Welsh Senate. The politics has all changed here in Wales. But of course, you got to remember the whole system changed as well. The way people voted, the number of politicians, the constituencies, there's now 96 members of the Senate and only nine of them are Labor members. That is an absolutely fundamental shift in politics here in Wales. How and why has this happened?
Well, look, Labor has had a very difficult record over recent uh years.
big issues that we see nationally like NHS waiting list, the cost of living, opportunities for young people, but you know, we spent time in some of those valley communities and I think identity, not just there, but in places like Inismo and Anglesy here, Welsh identity and the identity of the of the of Welsh people when it comes to those former trades like mining and steel, those jobs going so intrinsically linked to what Labor meant here in Wales. And I think over the years that has ebbed away in a way and people like Nigel Farage and other parties and ply have come in and perhaps capitalized on that disillusionment amongst uh Labor. So tonight we will see the parties led by Renapure potentially try and figure out a form of coalition because although ply Cry were the biggest party with 43 seats they didn't hit the magic number of 49 which is a majority. If pied work with Labor they'll get over 50. Maybe that is what will happen. we will see in the coming days. I think perhaps uh to end here tonight, the former first minister best described what happened. She of course woke up this morning as the leader of the Welsh Labor Party, the first minister of Wales. She ended tonight with no seat, having to resign and describing what has happened to Labour as catastrophic.
>> That was Dan Whitehead inland though on the North Wales coast for us. Let's get the story in Scotland now. Colin Gillis is in Edinburgh.
Yeah, good evening. 13 and a half hours in and it feels like we are on the home stretch now. I'll get to the S&P in just a second, but at the moment it is a very, very close eyes on second place here. The race is hotting up. There are seven seats left to declare here in Scotland and the current position as of right now is Labor are in second place, Reform are in third and there are just two seats between them. That could become the story of the next 24 hours.
And if that happens for Labor, all things considered, after what has been a disaster for the party north and south of the border, then they might see some success in there somewhere. But yes, the big story today clearly is the SMP, the largest party once again. The nationalist dominance continues, entering their third decade in power. is truly remarkable when you think of where the party has been in recent years, mired in scandal, various leaders uh over the past couple of years. Uh the general election result where they were absolutely hammered less than two years ago and now we're talking about them being at the largest party. Now they have capitalized big time on a certain proportion of the voters who have had an anti- Westminster sentiment. Frustration with Sir Kir Starmer and the way that he is playing his time in 10 Downing Street. The S&P had gone into this election with John Swinny at the helm hoping for a majority of seats seats here. They would say that would have been time for them to declare negotiations open. Game on for a second independence referendum. Well, they have fallen short on that it seems this time around. So, where does it leave the question of the constitution? Well, that is where the Scottish Greens come into the fold here. They are another pro-independence party here in Scotland and they have been big winners today as well, making gains in areas that they have never done before. So that will strengthen the pro-independence block here in Hollywood that you see uh behind me and they will likely be kingmakers in all of this. Just to recap and end tonight on what has been a major moment here in Scottish politics. Labor, yes, have been punished because of the prime minister. But Sir Kir Starmer has tonight sent a letter to Scottish Labor members. And in it, he says, "When Scottish voters send a message like this, it's important to reflect and respond. Many within Scottish Labor will think that the prime minister should be taking his own words and heading out the door ASAP." Final word goes uh to reform. If they do solidify their place in third spot here in Scotland, let's remember they have come from nothing uh to clinch that spot. Malcolm offered their leaders say they will be the challengers. They will be the scrutiners. They're planning a victory rally here in Scotland along with the SMP tomorrow, but there's been silence so far from Labor.
>> That's Connor Gillis who's in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. We're going to focus on Wales and Scotland now in our chat with uh with Susie and James.
And James, you've been hearing how upset, if that's an understatement, it sounds like people are in Scotland in the Labor movement.
>> Absolutely. So, that email went out a few minutes after Anna Sawe was sent his own message expressing, you know, apologies and his disappointment at that result. And I have rarely had a message as angry as the one I've just had from a Labour activist who says that sending that pre-written nonsense instead of doing the decent thing of drinking a bottle of Scottish whiskey and doing the decent thing alone tells you all you need to know about the ego of a Londoner who doesn't know anything about how to win a Scotland, Anna Shakura, the bottle of whiskey himself. For a man who claims he's taking responsibility, the thoughts and prayers told in that email made me feel physically sick with rage. And I think that is very much the anger which people are feeling who've campaigned in that Scottish election. Uh they feel Karma has cost them. They feel potentially the future of the union's up and I think that tone deafness is something that's going to be repeated by activists to their MPs when they go back for the king's speech next week. We'll get on to Wales in a second because it's been as labor it's been Labor for such a long time obviously since uh since the Senate was founded and you know in terms of polling 100 years prior to that but let's focus on Scotland a bit longer because they had several first ministers and the S&P has continued to get a a strangle hold and Anas Saw was trying it looked like every possible tactic to distance himself from Westminster. Well, absolutely. And that's because in July 2024, it looked like Anastas was going to be the next first minister finally after almost two decades of S&P rule.
They were going to get back to that hegemonic position that Scottish Labour previously occupied for um a century or so. And um they very much view the mistakes and things that cost Anasawa um all thanks to number 10 and their decisions they're making in the late summer of late 2024. things like the budget, things like the taking of winter fuel away. That gave the S&P an edge and John Swinny then came in as first minister and they very much feel that the victory has been snatched away uh by the decisions made in London. And so I think that when we see parliament return next week, the MPs will have been speaking to the MSPs or the MSP candidates who've lost, they'll be comparing notes and I think that if there is a group of people leading Karma out of number 10, it'll be led by angry Scots. From the perspective of the Scottish National Party, it isn't the ringing endorsement perhaps of another referendum on independence that they would want. They said it was once in a generation back in 2014. Here we are 12 years later. They would like to see uh another one again. And perhaps this result doesn't quite play into that.
>> It doesn't play into those hands. Um but I think as well there the vote doesn't play into anybody's hands particularly.
I can remember I can remember I'm old enough to recall when Jones when he didn't want to be first minister and Nicholas Sturgeon gave up and ran away.
Um but what's interesting I think about what your activist was saying James is that it shows really how could Stara if he wants to hold on if he is told by the voices around him that he can hold on and the losses weren't too bad and the rest of it how does he survive the next six months? How does he survive a long summer recess of this constant speculation? How does he survive Labour Party conference in September in Andy Burnham's backyard? How does he actually get through to Christmas? Because he doesn't have anything lined up, the big hits of legislative wins that he can push through. There's going to be world events. There is the straight off moves is still a problem. Donald Trump is still a massive obese and Palo has gone mad.
>> Um and there is no clear route for him.
Although he may want to, though he may see I don't have to give in. I have the reigns of power. Andy Burnham isn't going to get in.
>> Yeah. How do you live daytoday through this?
>> Yeah, >> we're living in suspended animation and we're waiting for someone to pull the trigger. Um, and the only thing I'd say is if we have another crisis, a bit like the Mandleton one, that could push people over the edge collectively. But right now, it's spend animation waiting for people to act.
>> Let's have a quick word on Wales because we we haven't mentioned that. And look, if you didn't know the name Apiworth before, you're going to struggle saying it if you don't speak Welsh. You certainly will know it now. a former BBC journalist, leader of PL Cry and now is going to be first minister in Wales.
Although he's got to pull the numbers together because they don't have an out outright majority plighted.
>> Yeah, absolutely. You need to get 49 of the 96 seats. I think 43 is what he's got. You could see a world in which they do a kind of voteby vote basis in which they sort of barter things up. I mean, the last budget was got through because one Liberal Democrat MS was convinced to ban dog greyhound racing in return for her support for the budget. That was her concession. We could see something like that and maybe have another election next year in Wales. Uh or we could see a kind of confidence supply agreement with Labor. Um there's lots of different things we're flying around. Tuesday the parliament will come back. They'll elect their equivalent of a speaker and then they'll go for the first minister and it'll be up to the plighted nationalist to decide what they want to do.
>> Uh coming up next, we're going to take a look through tomorrow's papers. They're not going to make pretty reading uh for the prime minister.
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What's the best thing about being a Sky News presenter?
Perfect.
Let's bring you some breaking news.
Being a Sky News presenter, >> I began by asking.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Trusting us to tell her story. The battle for number 10. Sky News has been given exclusive access. Let me give you a sneak peek. It was the day those present would never forget. Why did you decide to to open up and tell your story?
>> Let's have a look now at what is making the front pages of tomorrow's papers.
And the Guardian describes Labour's results in yesterday's elections as dire and suggests they will pile pressure on Zakir Star to either make radical change or to resign. The Telegraph reports that some Labour MPs and union bosses are now openly saying K should go. That message also reflected in forceful fashion on the front of the mail with a rather arresting photo in another story there.
Uh in the FT its headline, Star defifies MP's calls to quit as reform deals shattering bros blow is their headline.
The Times keeps it to three blunt words.
Labour's historic battering. The MEN, the Manchester Evening News ponders whether the city's mayor Andy Bernham might now be poised for that return to Westminster that he seems to want and perhaps that top job too. In the Express, they picture reform UK leader Nigel Farage in buoyant mood and as the paper puts it, vowing to fix Britain.
The I described Mr. Farage as plotting a path to number 10. Uh the Sun is one of the papers largely steering clear of the elections. They lead instead with a separation of TV presenters Vernon K and Tess Daily. That news is also the main concern for the mirror and it's the big splash for the star as well.
Back to James and Susie. Let's start uh James at the front page of the eye and Farage plotting a path to number 10.
Well, he already was. Is he more likely to have that path uh in front of him now?
>> Absolutely. Uh and you've got to remember every election he's getting stronger. The most remarkable reminder for me of how far reform have come since 2024 was the start of the night which was uh reform defending two two councils was what they had. Now they're going to have 162. So I think that does show the growth they've gone in two years and that's partly new technology that's partly the level of voter anger they are doing things which would not have been possible 20 30 years ago and so I think that he very much is building a party machine he's very much getting the background people involved and uh it's all about getting to number 10 and that is if you talk to his inner circle the people at the top of reform they talk about the mission and that is to get the boss is what they call into number 10 and so it's no surprise after this result that is going to be the focus reform can campaign Can they govern?
>> Because you know this is almighty poll we're looking at here but the opinion polls that were leading up to this. You thought they were starting to plateau perhaps even tail away a little bit.
>> A few pollsters have thought that it's a bit like the SDP. They had a big burst at the beginning of the 80s and it sort of tailed away before you had to get to election. They went too early kind of thing. They some some of them have said that similar things been going on with uh with reform. I think the fact is that you know however you want to regard what the mission may be within reform the fact is that when they have had the history shows when they have had councils up till now they do splinter quite quickly there are rows and disunityity very quickly they are often people who have not got much experience of running the local authorities and so they're not quite sure what they're doing in Kent where I live >> isn't that true of counselors in all parties they've got there's always got to be a first time for >> there's got to be a first time for everybody but I mean in Kent where I live we had a mini Doge enterprise where um the council officers had to tell the councils, "Well, you're not actually allowed to do some of this stuff and it's not legal and you we don't have any spare money that we're hiding and all the rest of it." And it just it went into chaos very very quickly. Um so they're very focused on Farage and this this personality cult effectively that he runs. It's the opposite of Karma. He is the anti-star. He's just all personality, but there's nothing there.
He's a chesh cat. And once they get him into number 10, well then what?
>> Then what? Well, then what is what the express's headline is, which is far vows to fix Britain because we talked previously about a lot of vibes, a lot of, you know, they would put it feel good factor, big grins and eloquent way of talking in everyday speak that people understand, but where's the substance?
Where are the policies?
>> Well, they are developing some policies.
They would say they would point to the expansion of the policy unit they've got, but really I don't think they need a huge amount of policies. um you know think back to last year when he appeared on that JCB and it was very much fixed Britain. It's almost the idea of the strong leader and sort of a bit like Trump they've been learning from and also examples around the world the strong man the the sort of ability to have one person on whose shoulder the face of a country can rest. Now obviously I can see lots of issues with that.
>> We've done all that with Boris Johnson did we not quite including stunt and there's a lot of similarities but there are some differences but I think this is the interesting thing about the internal party culture of reform. The Tories are very much MPsled. This is very much far's one sort of personal you know individual nature and there are problems with that but there's also some assets of that and that's how we've been able to drive reform so quickly in two years.
The Times uh has that three-word headline, Labour's historic battering and a fairly full looking Kia Starmer uh hand ringing on their uh the front page.
It is I mean it really is a historic battering, isn't it, Susie? And look, can he bounce back from this?
>> Well, there's no getting away from it.
It's pretty grim. And I think uh as we've already heard from James, the reaction from the party machinery is not positive at all. and him saying, "Oh, you know, hopes and and thoughts and prayers and let's reflect and let's think." And we've heard, you know, where Street said earlier on was take that feedback on the chin. Uh this is not a personnel review.
>> This is a situation where um if the government was going to get a second chance in the next three years to, you know, just everyone will give it a good break and a try again. That could be possible. But how is Karma going to actually govern? How is he going to cope uh when they come back to have the opening of parliament uh and then having after a few weeks going straight out to summer recess and constant constant speculation while he's perhaps off on holiday trying to do something else or someone else is running the country in his absence? How is he going to cope with with with party conference in September in Liverpool in Andy Bernham's back garden? How is he going to manage actually to govern on a daily bas? We've already got 10 MPs that have come forward and said it's time to go. We've had cabinet ministers who have been very cy in their support. They have not expressly said Karma is the man for me.
He will fight us in the next election.
As they said before, they've changed their tune. It's very much the government needs to listen. It's not anybody else's fault. It's the government's fault. And when they say it's the government's fault, they mean it's his fault.
>> James, hold that thought because I'm going to whiz through a couple of the other front pages. The the Guardian has dire election results pile pressure on the PM. That's their front page. Uh but it's a picture of Nigel Farage. They decide to use similar picture on the front page of the FT weekend starifiers MP's calls to quit as reform deals shattering blow. Here's a question for you, James. They probably knew this was coming in Labor. If they were being smart, they would have had something up their sleeve that's going to come next week that's going to perhaps inject a bit of feel-good factor. Maybe it is the potholes and fixing those that Susie talked about or something along those lines. That would be the kind of thing a political party might do or might have prepared for a moment such as this.
>> Well, maybe it's Van and Kay's divorce uh being a dead cat.
>> Tess has been offered a peer if she'll just go now.
>> Absolutely. Lady Lady at test. But look, >> it's sad news. We shouldn't really joke about those two splitting up. That's on the on the on a couple of the front pages. But yeah, >> no, I I mean, look, I mean, I I say it to make light of the fact that it's a really um difficult situation for the prime minister. Um you're right. I mean, what you need to do is have a grid, distract, deflect, talk about other things. And that's what we're going to see the prime minister, I imagine, in the next couple of weeks talking about the two international conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, the seriousness about which he's taking international affairs. His poll rating goes up at that. It's the thing he likes to do, and I think that'll be saying serious times we can't mess around. Uh that being said, I agree exactly with what you've been saying, Susie. I'm not really sure how he can sort of survive. I don't think he can fight another election. He's not a great campaign. He never was. He got there because he wasn't the Tories. Um, and so I do think at some point they'll have it, but I don't know whether the next what the thing is going to push people over the edge with what's going to be the single moment where the the lightning flashes up across the sky, we see where everyone lies underneath and people have that kind of crux to act.
>> We need to remember as well, sorry Matt, that he's he has axed a lot of his internal team in Downing Street. There isn't a lot of loyalty around him. There aren't there isn't there isn't the team that got him elected. So who does he turn to? Who are his supporters? Where has he got? He's got maybe John Healey in the MOD who's very loyal, one or two others, but West Streeting is maneuvering. Andy Bern wants to come in, Angela Raina wants to come back. There are other people up there who are going, "This isn't working, mate. What are we going to do?" He doesn't have that internal loyalty within the cabinet or within the White House.
>> And of course, the next few weeks, we're going to have more files reached from the Mandleton files as well. And all of that goes back to his judgment for appointing Mandlesson without the appropriate levels of vetting.
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