Starmer vows to stay on as PM after Labour suffers major local election losses

Keir Starmer has insisted that he will not “walk away” as prime minister after Labour suffered significant losses in the 2026 local elections. 

The comments came as it was confirmed that Labour had lost control of eight councils, namely those in Westminster, Southampton, Exeter, Redditch, Wandsworth, Hartlepool, Tamworth and Tameside.

Starmer maintained that “tough days” would not weaken his resolve. 

He told broadcasters: “The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.

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“We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.

“And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”

The prime minister added: “Let me be clear, these are really tough results.

“The voters have sent a message about the pace of change, how they want their lives and those elected to meet those challenges and I’m not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos.

“This has been going on for a very, very long time… But we haven’t done enough to convince people that things could improve, that their lives can get better, that hope.”

Starmer went on to admit that the government had made “unnecessary mistakes” and described his job now as “to set out the steps that we will take to bring about the change that people want and deserve.”

The local election results in England, about a third of which were in at the time of Starmer’s remarks, are likely to be compounded from a Labour perspective by losses in Scotland and Wales. 

Results in the contests for the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru are not expected until Friday afternoon. 

Reform UK, meanwhile, has made notable gains across the country. 

The party secured its first London council overnight – a development Nigel Farage hailed as a “truly historic shift”. The Reform leader confirmed Havering was now “under new management”. 

Speaking outside Havering Town Hall, Farage joked that he would be “very sad” if Starmer resigned in the wake of the local elections. 

He said: “I suspect when you see the full results in the red wall, there’ll be a rebellion. Personally, I’d be very sad to see the prime minister go.

“I would be very, very sad indeed, he’s the greatest asset we’ve got.”

The Reform UK leader stated: “It’s our first win of a borough in London, and that, in some ways, goes against the trend, because the pattern that’s emerging over the country is that Labour are being wiped out by Reform in many of their most traditional areas.

“And what you’re going to see later on today is the Conservative Party being wiped out in their Heartlands, like Essex.

“London goes a bit against the trend in that the Conservatives and Labour have held up in some of the other boroughs. But I think overall, what’s happened is a truly historic shift in British politics.”

One Labour MP, Jonathan Brash, has reiterated his call for the prime minister to resign. 

Brash, the Hartlepool MP who first called for Starmer to step down over the Peter Mandelson vetting debacle, said the prime minister should “set out a timetable for his departure”.

Brash’s comments came after Reform won every contested seat on Hartlepool Council. Reform’s gains now mean there are 15 Reform councillors in Hartlepool. 

Brash responded: “I think the very best thing the prime minister could do now is address the nation tomorrow and set out a timetable for his departure. We can then have an orderly transition, one that, by the way, ensures the full breadth of talent within the Labour party is able to stand, should it want to.”