Rise of the right wing, a Labour leadership battle, and more: what do the recent local elections mean for UK politics?

The results of the most recent elections in the UK will read very differently depending on your own personal political stance. Essentially, anyone except supporters of the far-right will view the results with an impending sense of doom about the future of British politics. But in reality, the results don’t spell out the end of two-party politics as we know it, or signal the beginning of far-right rule over Britain. In fact, although the results are alarming, doomsday in British politics is not yet here.

 

Local elections are held to decide the makeup of local councils. Citizens in a locality within a council vote for a certain number of representatives, which then make up the council for the area. Councils are responsible for the provision of public services in their area, e.g. trash collection and local libraries. This means that local elections are arguably more influential over the everyday lives of citizens than general elections (which decide the makeup of Parliament). Not all seats in a council are elected every year, but all seats are replaced once every four years (BBC News, 2026).

 

The results of the 2026 elections, on paper, look like a significant victory for the far-right, with Reform UK winning 1454 seats (of around 5000 that were up for election) with an increase of 1452 from last year (Clarke et al., 2026). However, this is far from the case. Reform’s seats, though they are many, are not concentrated - they have seats spread across a number of councils across the country. They only have a majority (and therefore have control) in 14 councils (BBC News, 2026), meaning that in most councils where they are represented, they do not have much direct influence on the activities in their region. In addition, Reform is notorious for nominating candidates who are inexperienced, and they tend to step down after relatively short periods of time. As of June 4, 18 Reform councillors who were elected in May have resigned (How Many Councillors Has Reform Lost Since May 2026 Elections?, 2026). It can be said therefore, that Reform’s outstanding success in May might not be an indicator of their trajectory in British politics. 

 

However, it does align with an emerging trend in politics that has become clearer over the last few election cycles. The fact that Reform and Green had the two largest increases in elected councillors signals a fracturing of politics toward left and right wing extremes. It can be argued that the rise of the far-right has resulted in a reactionary rise of parties on the left (shown in the Green Party, and the attempted formation of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s Your Party). However this also doesn’t signal the end of two-party politics in the UK, because of what is known as tactical voting. Voters approach local and general elections differently - in order to ensure that a certain party doesn’t win in a general election, people might vote for the ‘lesser of two evils’, meaning that their vote does not necessarily align with their preferred party. This is not the case in local elections; therefore Reform’s success in the local elections does not necessarily equate to an overwhelming advantage in the next general election. 

 

There are a few reasons for the rise of Reform. On the surface level, they have exhibited the most aggressive stance towards immigration, with proposed policies aiming to “Stop the Boats” and deporting all illegal migrants (Policies, n.d.). This intense focus on immigration is reflected in their voter breakdown: ⅔ of Reform voters cited immigration as the most important issue to them, which is the highest proportion of voters for any party (You Gov, 2026). They have clearly succeeded in drawing voter attention to issues which they believe they can win on, a typical populist strategy which reflects that in the US, Brazil, and France, among others. However, the rise of Reform runs deeper than a single policy debate. In fact, the most recent elections fit nicely into the emerging trend of the rise of the far-right over the last few years. Reform won the third highest vote share in the 2024 general election, and controlled 10 councils after the 2025 local elections. (A longer-term view will also reveal a rising trend since Brexit, and perhaps even since the 2008 financial crisis.) This reveals a number of things about British politics, but the most notable is probably the growing dislike and disillusionment with traditional establishment parties (especially Labour). 

 

Labour is definitely facing the consequences of this. In particular, there has been immense backlash on Sir Keir Starmer (Labour leader and Prime Minister) after Labour lost nearly 1500 seats across England, and fell from power in Wales after a century. Lots of this backlash is coming from within the party, with 90 MPs publicly calling for his resignation and five ministers resigning. This includes Minister for Health Wes Streeting, a dominant figure in the party who many consider to be a primary challenge to Starmer, if there were to be a contest for leadership. On the other hand, 150 MPs have pledged support for Starmer. However, this might not be enough to prevent a potential leadership contest (Wheeler, 2026). 

 

At the moment, Starmer remains firm in his refusal to resign - but this might not be a problem. MPs within his party could attempt to force a leadership contest, if 20% of the MPs (81 out of their current 403) back a replacement candidate. Currently, Streeting (the top choice for the right wing of the party) does not have enough backers to formally challenge Starmer). The left wing choice, Andy Burnham, is currently the mayor of Greater Manchester. Although he is a member of the Labour Party, he is not an MP (meaning he does not have a seat in Parliament), and cannot formally challenge for the leadership until he is. He is currently standing in a by-election in Makerfield, with a Reform candidate as his main opposition. It is expected that he will challenge for leadership of the Party if he wins, and has 20% of his party backing him. Another viable candidate is former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who resigned in 2025 after a property tax scandal. However, she is still respected within the Party, and has retained her seat as an MP despite resigning from her post as deputy prime minister. If any one of these candidates succeeds in forcing a contest, they will need 50% of votes from within the party to secure the leadership position. 

 

Needless to say, the fate of Labour remains uncertain. It remains to be seen what path Starmer, and indeed the entire political population of the UK, will take.

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Glossary:

General elections - elections held every five years across the country to determine the makeup of Parliament, and consequently the next Prime Minister. 

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Populist - a political ideology/strategy which is characterized by a strong, authoritative leader aiming to attract a large majority of voters across demographics. 

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Vote share - percentage of actual votes (not relating to constituencies or number of seats won). 

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2008 financial crisis - known as the ‘Great Recession’; a stock market crash in 2008 that led to the fall of major American banks and had consequences on the global economy. 

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By-election - an election held in between general elections when a seat in Parliament becomes vacant. Only that seat is up for election. 

 

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References:

BBC News. (2026). Local election results 2026 in England. BBC. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2026/england/results 

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BBC News. (2026, April 8). England elections 2026: What do local councils do? BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62jg7np4e2o

 

Clarke, S., Voce, A., Gargan, E., Shah, P., Leach, A., Gutiérrez, P., Blight, G., & Kirk, A. (2026, May 13). 2026 UK elections: full results from local, Scottish and Welsh votes. The Guardian. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2026/may/07/local-elections-2026-may-full-results-england-scotland-wales#England-banner 

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How many councillors has Reform lost since May 2026 elections? (2026, June 10). Mark Pack. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://www.markpack.org.uk/176783/how-many-councillors-has-reform-uk-lost-since-the-may-2026-elections/ 

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Lockwood, T., Middleton, A., Petersohn, B., Fowler, C., Bunting, H., Pike, K., Thompson, L., Collinson, M., Leith, M., & Bale, T. (2026, May 8). Elections 2026: Experts react to the Reform surge and Labour losses. The Conversation. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://theconversation.com/elections-2026-experts-react-to-the-reform-surge-and-labour-losses-282502 

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Policies. (n.d.). Reform UK. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://www.reformparty.uk/policies 

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UK Government. (n.d.). Types of election, referendums, and who can vote. GOV.UK. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://www.gov.uk/elections-in-the-uk/local-government 

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Wheeler, R. (2026, May 12). How could Labour MPs force a leadership contest and how would it work? BBC. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3631k30xjlo 

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You Gov. (2026, May 26). Local elections 2026: what decided people's votes, when did they make up their minds, and how have they reacted to the outcome? YouGov. Retrieved June 14, 2026, from https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54840-local-elections-2026-what-decided-peoples-votes-when-did-they-make-up-their-minds-and-how-have-they-reacted-to-the-outcome