We don’t know everything yet. But it’s clear that Scotland and Wales have both elected pro-independence governments, led by the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, respectively, while in England, Reform looks to be the biggest winner of the local elections. Across the UK, the Greens have won astonishing results, including at least two borough mayoralities in London, their first Welsh Senedd seats and their first constituencies in Scotland.
The Conservatives and Labour, the two main parties of the British state for the past 100 years, now face existential questions. Both have lost hundreds of councillors – and, with them, roots and activists in communities – across England, as well as parliamentarians in Scotland and Wales; losing, for the most part, to politicians from parties outside the traditional duopoly.
The Tories, once a party with deep roots across the UK, have been replaced as the main force on the right by Reform. Labour not only failed to win a major Welsh election for the first time in a century, but was reduced to its knees, with first minister Eluned Morgan one of 35 party colleagues to lose her seat as Plaid Cymru and Reform surged, leaving Labour with just nine Senedd members. In English cities, where Labour could once expect to win almost every seat, the party has faced serious challenges from the Greens; in the formerly industrial towns, it has more often been challenged by Reform.
