Labour Party

Rule Changes

Lost 300+ English council seats and control of Exeter, Southampton, and Bolton; Welsh Labour down to ~5 Senedd seats; Starmer refusing to resign under sustained internal pressure

Results from the May 7 Super Thursday elections arrived through Friday, May 8, matching and in places exceeding the poll-predicted losses for Labour. Reform UK gained more than 500 English council seats, taking control of at least four authorities (Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Sunderland, and Essex) having previously controlled none. Labour lost more than 300 seats and surrendered Exeter, Southampton, Bolton, and other councils it had held for years. In Scotland, counting pointed to a fifth consecutive SNP government at Holyrood, but short of an outright majority. In Wales, partial Senedd results showed Labour reduced to single figures in seat count, and First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her own seat in Ceredigion Penfro.

Updated May 8

Rule Changes

Governing party facing leadership crisis

Morgan McSweeney, the strategist who engineered Labour's 2024 landslide victory, resigned on February 8, 2026, taking responsibility for advising Prime Minister Keir Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite known ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Communications Director Tim Allan departed the following day, marking the fourth communications chief to leave Starmer's administration in 18 months. The crisis has now expanded dramatically: on February 19, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he leaked government information to Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.

Updated Feb 19