Britain's Super Thursday tests Labour across three nations

Overview

Results from the May 7 Super Thursday elections, counted through Friday, May 8, showed Labour losing heavily and Reform surging past polling expectations. Reform gained more than 500 English council seats and took control of four authorities (Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Sunderland, and Essex) for the first time.

Labour lost more than 300 seats and surrendered control of Exeter, Southampton, Bolton, and other long-held councils. In Scotland, the vote pointed to a fifth consecutive SNP government at Holyrood, though short of a majority. In Wales, partial results cut Labour to single figures; First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat, while Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth was on course to become the first Plaid First Minister.

Nigel Farage told reporters Friday morning the results were 'a truly historic shift in British politics' and Reform is now 'the most national of all parties.' Keir Starmer called the results 'really tough' but refused to resign: 'I was elected to meet those challenges and I'm not going to walk away.' Labour figures including Jonathan Brash and Darren Hale called for his resignation, while Deputy PM David Lammy urged the party not to change leaders mid-term.

Why it matters

Reform UK now governs councils from Essex to Sunderland; the party that held five MPs two years ago controls more local government than Labour.

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Key Indicators

5,066

English council seats contested

Across 136 local authorities, including every seat in all 32 London boroughs.

129

Scottish Parliament seats

All MSPs at Holyrood up for election; 65 needed for a majority. SNP forecast at 60–63.

Welsh Senedd seats

Expanded from 60, elected via closed-list PR across 16 six-member constituencies.

500+

Reform UK council seats gained

Reform took outright control of at least four English councils (Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Sunderland, Essex) having held none before polling day.

300+

Labour council seats lost (partial)

Early counts from roughly half of the 136 English councils showed Labour already past 300 losses, including control of Exeter, Southampton, and Bolton.

~11.5%

Welsh Labour vote share (actual)

Down from 36% in 2021; the party's worst Welsh result since 1906. First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her own seat.

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People Involved

Keir Starmer

Refusing to resign after Labour's worst local election results in decades; facing public calls to quit from within the party

Nigel Farage

Declaring a new era for Reform UK after the party took control of four English councils and won 500+ seats

John Swinney

SNP on course for a fifth consecutive Holyrood government but short of the 65 seats needed for a majority; minority government formation expected

Eluned Morgan

Lost her own Senedd seat in Ceredigion Penfro; Welsh Labour reduced to around five seats in partial results; political future uncertain

Rhun ap Iorwerth

Plaid Cymru leading partial Senedd results; expressed preference for a minority Plaid government rather than a formal coalition

Kemi Badenoch

Conservatives lost 200+ English council seats, mostly to Reform UK; reduced to around three seats in partial Welsh Senedd results

Organizations Involved

Labour Party

Political party (governing)

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

The UK's governing centre-left party, in office at Westminster since July 2024 and in Wales continuously since devolution began in 1999.

Reform UK

Right-wing UK political party

Gained 500+ English council seats; controls Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Sunderland, and Essex; on course for first Holyrood and Senedd seats

A right-wing populist party that grew out of the Brexit Party and now polls as a major force across all three nations of Great Britain.

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Political party (Scottish governing party)

On course for a fifth consecutive Holyrood government but short of a majority; minority government expected

Scotland's governing centre-left, pro-independence party, in power at Holyrood continuously since 2007.

Plaid Cymru

Welsh nationalist political party

Leading partial Senedd results with 22 seats declared; on course to become the largest party for the first time

The Welsh nationalist party, which has never led a Welsh government since devolution began in 1999.

Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament

Welsh Parliament

Holding first election under expanded 96-seat closed-list PR system

Wales's devolved parliament, expanding from 60 to 96 members and switching to a closed-list proportional system at this election.

Timeline

May 1999 May 2026

12 events Latest: May 8th, 2026 · 1 month ago Showing 8 of 12

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May 2026
Farage declares 'historic shift' as Reform UK takes four councils
Latest Election

Nigel Farage told reporters England's results were 'a truly historic shift in British politics,' as Reform UK's total gains passed 500 council seats and the party took outright control of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Havering, Sunderland, and Essex.
May 8th, 2026 • Morning BST
Starmer refuses to resign, calls results 'really tough'
Politics

Keir Starmer, speaking at a church hall, took personal responsibility for Labour's losses but said he would not quit. Labour MP Jonathan Brash and Hull Labour leader Darren Hale publicly called for him to go; Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy cautioned against changing leaders mid-term.
May 8th, 2026 • Morning BST
Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan loses her Senedd seat
Election

Morgan lost her seat in Ceredigion Penfro as partial Senedd results showed Welsh Labour on around five seats. Plaid Cymru had 22 and Reform UK 17 from counts declared, with Labour's vote share falling to roughly 11.5%.
May 8th, 2026
Scottish Parliament count points to SNP fifth term, short of majority
Election

Counts through Friday showed the SNP on track to remain the largest party at Holyrood but between 60 and 63 seats — short of the 65 needed for a majority. John Swinney retained his Perthshire North seat and said the SNP would be the largest party when the count concluded.
May 8th, 2026
Super Thursday polls open across Britain
Election

Voters in England, Scotland, and Wales cast ballots in combined local-government, Holyrood, and Senedd elections; polls close at 22:00 BST.
May 7th, 2026 • 07:00 BST
Final polling published across all three contests
Polling

YouGov MRP shows SNP short of Holyrood majority and Plaid Cymru leading in Wales; Labour projected for steep council losses in England.
May 5th, 2026
November 2024
Kemi Badenoch elected Conservative leader
Leadership

Badenoch wins Conservative leadership contest after the party's worst general election result.
November 2nd, 2024
August 2024
Eluned Morgan becomes Welsh first minister
Leadership

Morgan takes over Welsh Labour and the Welsh government after Vaughan Gething's resignation.
August 6th, 2024
July 2024
Labour wins UK general election
Election

Keir Starmer's Labour Party wins 411 Commons seats, ending 14 years of Conservative government and forming the baseline being tested today.
July 4th, 2024
June 2024
Welsh Senedd reform becomes law
Legislation

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 enlarges the parliament from 60 to 96 seats and replaces its voting system with closed-list PR.
June 25th, 2024
May 2024
John Swinney becomes Scottish first minister
Leadership

Swinney takes over the SNP and Scottish government after Humza Yousaf resigns; begins rebuilding party in advance of 2026 vote.
May 8th, 2024
May 1999
Devolved parliaments first elected
Constitutional

Scotland and Wales hold their first devolved elections, establishing the institutional framework being tested again on Super Thursday.
May 6th, 1999

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Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

May 1995

Conservative council collapse (1995)

Eighteen months before the 1997 general election, John Major's Conservative government suffered devastating local council losses, ceding more than 2,000 seats and losing control of dozens of councils to Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The result confirmed that Tony Blair's Labour was a credible governing alternative.

Then

Major's authority within the Conservative Party weakened sharply; he triggered a 'put up or shut up' leadership contest in July 1995 to confront critics.

Now

The local-election rout was a leading indicator for the 1997 general election landslide, in which Labour won 418 seats and Blair became prime minister.

Why this matters now

The 2026 contest reverses the polarity but mirrors the dynamic — a governing party is testing whether mid-term local results signal terminal decline or a recoverable slump.

May 2011

SNP wins first Holyrood majority (2011)

The Scottish National Party won 69 of 129 Holyrood seats — an outright majority that the parliament's proportional system was designed to make almost impossible. Alex Salmond used the result to claim a mandate for an independence referendum, which the UK government accepted.

Then

The Edinburgh Agreement of October 2012 transferred the legal power to hold a referendum to Holyrood under a section 30 order.

Now

Scotland voted 55%-45% against independence in September 2014; the question has remained live in Scottish politics ever since.

Why this matters now

John Swinney's stated benchmark for success — an SNP majority — is explicitly modelled on the 2011 result and the constitutional leverage it produced.

May 1999

Welsh Assembly first elected (1999)

Following a narrowly approved 1997 referendum, Wales held its first elections to a 60-member National Assembly with limited devolved powers. Labour won 28 seats, Plaid Cymru 17, and a Labour-led administration was formed under Alun Michael.

Then

The Assembly began operating with secondary-legislation powers only, drawing criticism from both nationalists and unionists for its limited remit.

Now

Powers were progressively expanded through the 2006 Government of Wales Act, the 2011 referendum on primary law-making, the 2017 Wales Act, and the 2024 Senedd reform act.

Why this matters now

The 96-seat Senedd debuting today is the culmination of a 27-year expansion of Welsh devolution, and the first election in which Plaid Cymru is favoured to lead the government.