UPDATE
British people went to the polls in various places in England, Wales and Scotland on Thursday. The elections appear to be turning into a ‘landslide’. The party of Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose popularity has declined significantly, is in very poor shape according to the polls and the first results seem to confirm this. Is the end of his premiership beckoning? “These elections could have very major consequences,” says VTM NIEUWS journalist Jelle Frencken.
Around 6 a.m. local British time, the results were known from 30 of the total 136 local parliaments. At that point, Labor had lost 186 seats and Reform UK had won 255. In total there are approximately 5,000 seats to be allocated. The majority of the results will come during Friday.
Local voting was allowed in England and parliamentary elections took place in Wales and Scotland. A significant loss for left-wing Labor was already expected at the polls. The radical right Reform UK is expected to get many more voters behind it. Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party may be the big winner of these elections, according to the polls.
The left-wing Green Party can also count on more seats. The Conservative Party, which led previous national governments, is expected to lose seats.
“We have to wait and see what the result will ultimately be,” says Frencken. “It could be that the result forces Starmer’s party to push him aside and choose another prime minister. Or perhaps he himself takes responsibility. In other words, these local and regional elections could have very major consequences.”
