Wales first minister loses seat in Labour humiliation while Reform surges in England

Sir Keir Starmer said he is ‘not going to walk away’ as Labour endures a bruising set of election results
Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan has lost her seat in the Senedd, marking the first time a sitting Welsh leader has been defeated in an election for the Welsh Parliament.

Labour is suffering heavy losses in elections in England and Wales as Nigel Farage ’s Reform UK surges, heaping pressure on the prime minister.

Sir Keir Starmer said earlier he is “hurt” but is “not going to walk away” after Labour lost hundreds of councillor seats, along with control of several councils, in the English local elections .

The party appears to be losing grip of its historic northern English heartlands with major losses in Tameside, Hartlepool and Wigan, as pollsters predict more than 1,500 Labour council seats could be lost when all have been called.

Meanwhile, Reform UK party has seen a surge in support, winning hundreds of seats across the country.

The Green Party has also enjoyed success, notably winning the Hackney mayoral election, ousting Labour.

In Wales, Labour are only set to retain 10 seats in the Senedd.

With one final constituency left to declare, it is evident that Plaid Cymru are now the largest party in Wales and their leader Rhun ap Iorwerth is set to become first minister.

However, with BBC forecasting they will end with 42 to 43 seats, they are still several seats short of the 49 seats required to form a majority government.

So what options are now open to the Welsh nationalist party?

1 - Form a coalition government - Plaid Cymru could now be looking at other parties who are the most similarly politically aligned to form a coalition, although they have expressed an unwillingness to do so in recent interviews.

They could seek an alliance with the Greens who currently have two seats, but this would also fail to bring them to the 49 seats required.

It has been suggested on several occasions they could form a coalition with Labour, who have nine seats.

Plaid Cymru propped up the Labour government during the last Senedd elections in 2021, yet Mr ap Iorwerth withdrew from this deal in May 2024 after becoming “deeply concerned” with a £200,000 donation to former first minister Vaughan Gething.

2- Form a minority government - In January, Mr ap Iorwerth said it was his party's "wish" to form a minority government made up of only Plaid ministers, instead of a coalition with other parties.

He said the latest opinion poll "confirms what I've felt for a while, which is that we can - if we fight an effective election and build trust with people - lead a minority government and do that successfully".

He said they would look at each issue and policy where it required key votes on a case-by-case basis.

Reform gains nearly 750 seats, taking control of six councils
With results in from 90 out of 136 English councils, Reform UK had gained almost 750 seats, and had won more than 800.

The party had taken control of six councils, while Labour had lost more than 460 councillors, and lost control of 15 local authorities.

A disastrous set of results for Labour in Hackney so far
Almost half of the wards in Hackney have been declared so far - but not a single Labour councillor has been elected.

17 Greens have been won, along with five Conservatives.

There are 36 more to be declared, but this is shaping up to be a disastrous day for Sir Keir Starmer’s party.

Before today, Labour held the majority in the historically safe borough with 43 councillors, while the Greens had only 4.

In pictures: Scottish Greens celebrates wins in Edinburgh Central and Glasgow Southside
Leader of Reform UK in Wales pledges to 'put Wales first' after winning seat in Senedd Election
Breaking: No party will win majority in Wales
Only Gwynedd Maldwyn in north-mid Wales is left to declare their results, with Plaid Cymru so far in the lead.

As of 6pm, they have 39 seats, with Reform UK trailing them in second place with 32 seats and Labour only retaining nine of their seats in the Senedd.

It is now clear that the Welsh nationalist party will be the largest party in Wales, with the BBC estimating they will finish with 42-43 seats, and Reform ending with 34-35.

However, this means that neither party will have achieved the 49 seats needed to form a majority government.

Labour MPs break ranks to call for Keir Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure
A number of Labour MPs have now broken ranks to suggest their leader must go over today’s disastrous election results.

Former cabinet minister Louise Haigh said: “I think what is abundantly clear is that unless the government delivers significant and urgent change, then the prime minister cannot lead us into another election.”
Olivia Blake, the Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, said the PM “needs to think about his position”.

She told the BBC the party was “kidding ourselves if we think that Keir Starmer will be leading us into the next election.

There needs to be a plan now for what comes next”.

“We need an orderly plan,” she told The Independent .

Richard Burgon, leader of the Socialist Campaign Group of left-wing Labour MPs, said: “It is clear that Keir has fought his last election as Labour leader and, deep down, he will know it.”
Former loyalist Simon Opher, the MP for Stroud, warned Labour could allow Nigel Farage to become PM unless it changed leader, adding: “if we go into the next election with him as leader we will get slaughtered”.

And Anneliese Midgley, Labour MP for Knowsley, told the Guardian : "Unless that changes significantly and quickly it's clear the PM can't lead us into another election.”
Cabinet minister insists Keir Starmer is not going to go
With Labour MPs and trade union leaders breaking ranks to call for Sir Keir Starmer to set a timetable for his departure as leader, a cabinet ally has come out insisting he is going nowhere.

Speaking to BBC News technology secretary Liz Kendall insisted: “He’s not going to go, and he is not going to set a timetable.

“People want us to focus on their jobs and their future, not our jobs and our future.”
Labour's Wales secretary calls Eluned Morgan departure a 'great loss'
pic.twitter.com/3uBnIpsOSE — Jo Stevens (@JoStevensLabour) May 8, 2026
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