Live Commentary
10:48am Sunday With all 136 councils declared, the results are Reform 1,453 councillors (up 1,451), Labour 1,068 (down 1,496), Lib Dems 844 (up 155), Tories 801 (down 563) and Greens 587 (up 441). So Labour lost 58% of seats it was defending, a bit better than expected. Councils controlled are Labour 28 (down 38), Lib Dems 15 (up one), Reform 14 (up 14), Tories nine (down six), Greens five (up five) and Aspire one (up one – Tower Hamlets), with 64 with no overall control (up 23).
12:09pm These elections were about as bad as expected for Labour in England and Scotland, and worse than expected in Wales. The party that had dominated Wales since the first devolved election in 1999 won just nine out of 96 seats. The pre-election polls were good in Scotland, but overstated Labour and understated PC in Wales.
11:36am After results from 130 of 136 English councils, Reform won 1,443 councillors (up 1,441), Labour 959 (down 1,395), the Lib Dems 834 (up 151), the Tories 773 (down 555) and the Greens 511 (up 370). Councils controlled are Labour 27 (down 35), the Lib Dems 15 (up one), Reform 14 (up 14), the Tories nine (down six) and the Greens four (up four), with 61 with no overall control (up 22). I expect the remaining councils by Sunday morning AEST. While the Greens were runner-up to Reform with 18% according to the BBC’s PNS, their vote appears to have been too evenly dispersed to beat Labour, the Tories or the Lib Dems in number of councillors.
11:25am In English mayoral elections, the Greens have also gained Lewisham from Labour to add to their gain in Hackney. These are the first two directly elected Greens mayors. The other four mayoral elections have all been holds for the Tories, Labour, the Lib Dems and Aspire in Tower Hamlets.
10:59am With counting complete in Scotland, the SNP won 58 of the 129 seats (down six since 2021), Labour 17 (down four), Reform 17 (up 17), the Greens 15 (up six), the Tories 12 (down 19) and the Lib Dems ten (up six). Vote shares in the FPTP seats were 38.2% SNP (down 9.5%), 19.2% Labour (down 2.4%), 15.8% Reform (new), 11.8% Tories (down 10.1%), 11.4% Lib Dems (up 4.4%) and 2.3% Greens (up 1.0%). In the list seats, the SNP won 27.2% and the Greens 14.0%.
7am The BBC’s Projected National Share (PNS) for these council elections gives Reform 26% of the vote (down four since the 2025 council elections), the Greens 18% (up seven), the Tories 17% (up two), Labour 17% (down three) and the Lib Dems 16% (down one). In 2022, the last time most of these seats were elected, Labour won the PNS by 35-30 over the Tories with 19% for the Lib Dems. The PNS is a figure for what would have happened had council elections been held nationally, and can be compared from one year of elections to the next.
6:44am In Scotland, 115 of the 129 seats have been declared, including all 73 FPTP seats. In the FPTP seats, the SNP won 57 seats (down six on 2021), the Lib Dems seven (up three), the Tories four (down one), Labour three (up two) and the Greens two (up two). Reform didn’t win any FPTP seats. The SNP and Greens are already at a combined 69 seats (57 SNP and 12 Greens), above the 65 needed for a majority.
6:31am Saturday Counting in Wales is complete, with the BBC showing seat changes from 2021 using a redistribution (as there were 60 total seats in 2021 vs 96 now). The nationalist Plaid Cymru won 43 seats (up 20), Reform 34 (up 34), Labour nine (down 35), the Tories seven (down 22), the Greens two (up two) and the Lib Dems one (up one). PC is six seats short of a majority, with Labour their most plausible partner. Vote shares were 35.4% PC (up 14.7%), 29.3% Reform (up 28.2%), 11.1% Labour (down 25.1%), 10.7% Tories (down 14.3%), 6.7% Greens (up 2.4%) and 4.5% Lib Dems (up 0.1%).
11:15pm And that’s all from me until tomorrow morning.
11:14pm In Scotland, after seven of the 73 FPTP seats have declared, the SNP has won six and the Lib Dems one, a gain for the SNP at the Lib Dems’ expense. There are still no Welsh results, but the Labour Welsh First Minister is expected to lose her seat and Labour is expected to only win ten seats out of 96 (they won 30 out of 60 in 2021).
11:06pm In English councils after 63 of 136 results, Reform has won 561 councillors (up 559), the Lib Dems 336 (up 28), the Tories 305 (down 249), Labour 292 (down 380) and the Greens 106 (up 58). Councils controlled are Labour 13 (down 11), the Lib Dems eight (up one), the Tories six (down two) and Reform three (up three), with 33 NOC (up nine). Labour’s proportional seat losses have increased on counting tonight.
9:58pm The SNP have held Dundee City West by 49-25 over Labour with 13% for Reform. That’s a 12.5% drop in the SNP vote.
9:49pm The first Scottish result is in, with the Lib Dems retaining Orkney Islands by 70-16 over the SNP, an 8% swing to the Lib Dems and 13% against the SNP since 2021.
9:07pm There are no counts available yet, but the Greens have gained Hackney mayoralty from Labour. That’s a former Labour stronghold in London. Update: the Greens defeated Labour by 47.2-35.5 with 8.4% for the Tories and 5.3% for Reform.
8:34pm Counting in Wales and Scotland started at 6pm AEST, with first Scottish results expected at about 9pm.
8:25pm After 46 of 136 English councils, Reform have won 401 councillors (up 399), the Tories 256 (down 174), Labour 253 (down 260), the Lib Dems 251 (up 37) and the Greens 53 (up 28). Councils controlled are Labour ten (down eight), the Tories six (down one), the Lib Dems five (up one) and Reform two (up two), with 23 for NOC (up six).
4:50pm There’s going to be a lull in counting until tonight, when we’ll get Welsh and Scottish results and 96 further council results.
4:06pm The Tories have regained Westminster in London from Labour after losing it in 2022. In inner London councils, it’s just Tories vs Labour. The Tories won 32 of the 54 seats, a nine-seat gain.
3:51pm Reform takes its first council, gaining Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Tories. All 44 seats were up, with Reform winning 27 (up 27), the Tories 15 (down ten) and Labour two (down 17).
3:44pm (three paragraph entry) After 38 of 136 councils, Reform has 317 councillors (up 317), Labour 219 (down 240), the Lib Dems 236 (up 35), the Tories 190 (down 117) and the Greens 48 (up 26). Councils controlled are Labour ten (down seven), Lib Dems five (up one) and Tories three (steady), with No Overall Control (NOC) 20 (up six).
While Labour has lost over half the seats they held, they’re doing better so far than some projections that had them losing 70% of their current seats. Curtice said the Greens are getting about 18%, but this isn’t quite enough in FPTP to win large numbers of seats.
In 2022, Labour gained Wandsworth from the Tories, ending 44 years of Tory dominance in this London council. This election (an all-out election), the Tories regained seven seats, but didn’t quite win a majority, finishing with 29 of 58 seats, to 28 Labour and one independent.
2:21pm Curtice says Reform is averaging 40% where at least 60% voted for Brexit, but only 9% where fewer than 40% voted to Leave. In contrast, the Greens are at 26% in pro-Remain areas but 12% in pro-Leave areas.
1:35pm BBC election analyst John Curtice says in key wards, Reform have 30% of the vote, Labour 16%, the Greens 15% (up ten since 2022). The Tories are down 14% since 2022 and the Lib Dems down 5%.
1:31pm Wigan is a good example of the one-third up for election rule helping the former major parties retain control. Of the 25 seats up for election, Reform won 24 with Labour losing all 22 seats they were defending. But Labour retains control with 42 of the total 75 seats.
1:19pm After 26 of 136 councils, Reform has won 224 councillors (up 224), Labour 84 (down 162), the Lib Dems 68 (down three), the Tories 67 (down 65) and the Greens 34 (up 22). Councils controlled are Labour seven (down five), Lib Dems three (up one), Tories two (steady) and no overall control 14 (up four).
11:59am The Lib Dems have gained control of Stockport in Greater Manchester (previously no overall control). The damage to Labour and the Tories in councils controlled has been limited so far by only having one-third of councillors up at this election. London councils to come in later will have all-out elections.
11:19am After 11 of 136 councils declared, Reform has 93 councillors (up 93), the Tories 13 (down 20), Labour 12 (down 67), the Lib Dems 12 (down three) and the Greens six (up four). Councils controlled are Labour four (down three), the Tories one (steady) and no overall control six (up three). In councils in so far, only one-third of seats have been up for election, so Labour’s controls are from the two-thirds that are not up.
10:46am Reform has won 46 councillors (up 46), Labour six (down 37), the Lib Dems five (down two), the Greens four (up three) and the Tories two (down five).
10:04am Councillors won so far are Reform 12 (up 12 since 2022), Labour two (down 12), Lib Dems two (up one), Greens one (up one) and Tories zero (down two).
9:52am The two councils that have been called Labour holds are because only one-third of seats were up for election, and Labour held nearly all the seats not up for election.
9:45am Slow going so far, with only four ward results in. The BBC says we should get results from ten councils soon.
9:10am Friday The BBC’s live blog says counting in Wales and Scotland won’t begin until Friday UK time (tonight AEST).
Guest post by Adrian Beaumont, who joins us from time to time to provide commentary on elections internationally. Adrian is a paid election analyst for The Conversation. His work for The Conversation can be found here.
Polls close at 7am Friday AEST for Welsh and Scottish parliamentary elections and English local government elections. Labour has been the dominant party at Welsh elections since the first devolved election in 1999, winning half or just under half the seats. At this election, there will be 96 members elected in 16 six-member electorates by proportional representation. This reform scraps the first-past-the-post seats.
The Election Maps UK aggregate gives the left-wing Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru 29.8%, followed by the populist right Reform at 27.5%, Labour 14.1%, the Conservatives 10.2%, the Greens 9.4% and the Liberal Democrats 5.7%. Seat projections give Plaid 37 seats, Reform 34, Labour 13, the Conservatives six, the Greens five and the Lib Dems one. If this occurs, Plaid and Labour combined would be able to govern.
Of the 129 Scottish seats, 73 are elected by FPTP and 56 are list seats, with the list seats used to maintain overall proportionality, so that parties that dominate FPTP seats win few list seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) has dominated since 2011.
In the Election Maps UK aggregate, the SNP has 36.1% of the vote in the FPTP seats, followed by 18.2% for Labour, 17.7% Reform, 11.4% Conservatives, 11.0% Lib Dems and 3.2% Greens. In list seats, the Greens have 13.7% and the SNP 28.0%. Seat projections give the SNP 56, Reform 19, Labour 17, the Greens 14, the Conservatives 12 and the Lib Dems 11. If this occurs, the SNP will hold government with the Greens’ support.
A total of 5,066 coucillors will be up for election in England today. The large majority of councillors were last elected at the 2022 local elections. At those elections, Labour won the Projected National Share (PNS) by 35-30 over the Conservatives with 19% for the Lib Dems. The PNS calculates a national vote share for council elections. At the 2025 local elections, the PNS was 30% Reform, 20% Labour, 17% Lib Dems, 15% Conservatives and 11% Greens.
Current national vote shares are 26.8% Reform, 18.7% Labour, 18.4% Conservatives, 15.5% Greens and 11.7% Lib Dems. If these vote shares occur at the local elections, Reform and the Greens will gain massively at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives.
Some results from the local elections will be available Friday morning AEST. The large majority of results from England, Wales and Scotland should be in by Saturday morning. Since my April 27 preview of these elections, polls have moved slightly towards Reform.
US updates
In gerrymandering news, Florida’s legislature has passed new maps that may help Republicans gain four seats for a 24-4 Republican split of Florida’s 28 federal House seats. However, this gerrymander may put Republican seats in danger. It’s also subject to legal challenges.
On April 30, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that will let southern states scrap their Black majority districts. These districts are Democratic bastions in otherwise solidly Republican states. Democrats are likely to respond by diluting Black votes in states which they control – Nate Silver has analysis of how this would work.
With this decision coming six months before the November midterm elections, it will be much more important in 2028 gerrymandering than 2026, although Louisiana postponed its May 16 primary so it can redraw boundaries to scrap at least one Democratic seat.
California will hold a jungle primary on June 2. At a jungle primary all candidates compete together, and the top two, regardless of party, advance to the November general election. Since Democrat Swalwell dropped out, Democrat Becerra has surged from 3.9% to 14.6% in the Fiftyplusone aggregate. There’s still a faint possibility that Republicans Hilton and Bianco both make the runoff, but Becerra and Democrat Steyer are just ahead of Bianco.
Bulgarian election
The 240 Bulgarian MPs are elected using 31 multi-member electorates by proportional representation with a national 4% threshold. There had been seven elections since April 2021. At the April 19 election, the new left-wing populist but somewhat pro-Russia Progressive Bulgaria (PB) won 44.6% of the vote and 131 seats, above the 121 needed for a majority. Nearly 20% was cast for parties that failed to meet the threshold, helping PB to its majority.
So going well for brave Sir Keir.
From the BBC live coverage.
Looks like Polanski’s attack on police has wrecked the campaign for the UK Greens.
“In Tameside, the patch of former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Labour was defending 17 seats, and lost 16 of them – all to Reform — meaning the party lost overall control.”
=================
Well Raynor has nothing to lose then by challenging Starmer.
She either challenges & wins & tries to rebuild the party brand, or she challenges and loses…and then loses her seat at the next Westminster election.
The only silver lining in all of this is that with more Reform controlled councils, they will now have the difficult responsibility of balancing budgets, announcing cutbacks to services and making enemies of voters.
I doubt voters will return to Labour (at least while Starmer is there). If Reform turn out to be duds, then it’s possible voters might start looking at the Greens before the next General election.
Ghost Of Whitlam says:
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 4:44 pm
Looks like Polanski’s attack on police has wrecked the campaign for the UK Greens.
====================
I think all Polanski commented on was his concern that a tasered offender was subsequently kicked in the head by a police officer. It’s blown up into a big anti-semitism thing which I don’t think is quite fair on Polanski. Anyway, I wasn’t there and one of the senior police will assess down the track as to whether the kick to the head was necessary.
Agreed with Nadia.
UK Labour at the moment are basically just a flock of penguins waddling about without purpose, vision or courage, only interested in where there might be fish next.
They can either continue waddling to be eaten up by Farage’s lot in 2029 or make significant changes.
…and I bet Sir Keir is also waddling around No.10 Downing St like Paddington Bear.
Anyway, thanks for clarifying time zones etc. Look’s like the count will resume sometime after 9 or 10 am UK time (around 7pm PB time) as well as the Scot & Welsh elections.
Big night coming up. Big few nights coming up actually. Farrer tomorrow & budget Tues.
I’ll take AB’s “lull” moment to get the dinner sorted out, then back to the UK.
Kirsdarkesays:
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 5:07 pm
…..
“UK Labour at the moment are basically just a flock of penguins waddling about without purpose, vision or courage, only interested in where there might be fish next.
They can either continue waddling to be eaten up by Farage’s lot in 2029 or make significant changes.”
If Labour are Penguins then what are Farage’s mob? Snowmen?
@PaulTu
Basically things that kill Penguins I guess.
“It’s blown up into a big anti-semitism thing which I don’t think is quite fair on Polanski”.
Polanski also went on the radio and further attacked the police by incorrectly saying that the suspect was handcuffed and said he was “traumatised” by the arrest, then had to apologise for being wrong about the handcuffs. All of this on top of the fact his instinctive reaction was to attack the police for arresting a guy on a terrorist stabbing spree who had also dressed up to look like he had a suicide vest! In most countries he would have got two in the chest then one in the head if they kept struggling in a manner that suggested an attempt to pull a detonation cord or hit a hidden switch.
He was also exposed for lying about working as a spokesman for the Red Cross and had to apologise for that too.
And because the Greens were effectively a micro protest party, their candidate vetting was non-existent, and this allowed a couple dozen people to become candidates having made questionable statements regarding either Israel or Jewish people in general, pushed conspiracy theories about 9/11 being done by Israel, or the Ambulance burnings earlier in March being “false flags”, ending with two of them getting arrested. This was even admitted by Polanski himself, so this is hardly “unfair” on him.
Polanski as the leader and their Greens UK as a Party were exposed to the light of actual scrutiny and they failed badly.
The Greens have gained a net 27 seats so far, according to the BBC’s website. I don’t have a breakdown, but I take it that means losses in London more than counterbalanced by gains elsewhere.
About two thirds of the count still to go.
Greens vote is well up and they have more than doubled their number of councillors with only around 20% of votes counted, most of which is from more conservative areas of England. They are going very well at this stage of the count with much more friendly territory left to go.
Of course, the same cannot be said for Labour, who are having an absolute shocker. So are the Tories.
Disappointing to see the rise of Reform but we’ve all been expecting it for some time.
Seems the count has really slowed down over the last couple of hours. Should be interesting when more of the big London councils come in, whenever that is.
So far apart from Havering Reform hadn’t done well in London.
They failed miserably in Bexley winning only 7 seats.
Bexley is next to Kent where reform won the County Council last year.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Newcastle-under-Lyme. Good luck, strap yourselves in.
So we have reform and the conservatives running to the far far openly racist right. You have Starmer arresting anti-genocide protesters supported by a very biased and dodgy police force, and you have a guy who retweeted, not even a tweet a retweet, an opinion that kicking a person incapacitated by taser strikes writhing on the ground might be excessive force and you are outraged by the retweet.
You are either a complete idiot or you brought the outrage with you.
Look’s like the Tories have now overtaken Labour in council seat haulage.
Reform – 398
Tories – 256
Labour -253
LibDems – 249
LibDems will probably overtake Labour soon.
Tough election results hurt but don’t weaken my resolve, says PM
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz62dwe30wdo
Looks like Starmer is going to screw UK and Labour party with his obstinacy.
English commentator Tim Wilson on the Uk election results, mainly the local elections. It’s the end of politics as normal as old loyalties break down. A Reform will find governing much harder than insurgency, as their local Government record to date attests.
https://youtu.be/vC9NiuYNb_0?si=XeKjsJyvVco7c_JY
(~10 min)
Interesting watch an old PBS documentary from 1986 at this time.
What has changed, and what has not.
Ven says:
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 7:25 pm
Tough election results hurt but don’t weaken my resolve, says PM
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz62dwe30wdo
Looks like Starmer is going to screw UK and Labour party with his obstinacy.
============
I think he’s gone Ven.
Ms Raynor is in Parliament and seems the obvious choice, but some of the Labor/Labour hard heads here believe her tax issues will cause more problems down the track.
ie: if she “get’s Starmer” then we’ll be dealing with headlines for the rest of 2026 of “Raynor tax thief” etc
I’m not too sure where this will all end, but I don’t think they can continue with this for much longer.
Ghost (above) – no I’m not aware of all the things the police have to take into account so I take your point. There is footage online of the arrest, most of which is getting blocked out but here is a link still available.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskBrits/comments/1t0p591/bodycam_footage_released_of_the_golders_green/
Regardless, I’ll keep out of the police operational stuff. Not my area.
I mentioned a few months ago that Zack Polanski has a bit of an image problem, particularly with his teeth.
I know it’s unfair and he probably isn’t fully responsible for it, but it’s really noticeable and a really bad look for a political leader in this day and age.
If he can’t fix it with dental work, then at least try to work around it. The comedian Dave Hughes also has unfortunate teeth, and he adapted by learning to speak without moving his lips too much to reveal them very often.
Where in blazes are the Scotland and Wales results? Surely they must have started counting by now?
I think they have started counting, just they have more convoluted voting systems so it’d take a while to get actual seat numbers.
Surely a party currently holding over 400 seats in the lower house doesn’t need to look outside of parliament for an alternate leader?
@Asha
I think the vast majority of them are thinking this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNknxB-bALg
Greens have just won the executive Mayor of Hackney position,
….and also thinking this…
Greater Manchester Labour MP calls on Keir Starmer to QUIT as he’s ‘despised on the doorstep’
Link: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/keir-starmer-quit-manchester-mp-33911523
and Labour has fallen to 4th now.
* Reform 416 (council seats)
* Tories 265
* LibDems 262
* Labour 254
Look’s like nothing on the Wales or Scots results.
Surely it’s not that hard to start counting blasted votes. They only have to do this every five years.
Yeah, I think its about time for Starmer to fall on his sword. If he goes now, his successor would still have three years to try to dig the government out of the hole they are in.
For a Labour MP to refer to his Boss as being “despised on the doorstep”, is almost equivalent to one of our former Labor MP’s referring to his Boss (at the time) as having “no Labor values”.
It look’s like Starmer won’t fall on his sword though.
The traditional method will have to take place. ie: blast him out.
One way or another, they (PM’s) all go out in tears.
@nadia
There’s the catch, UK Labour have made it too hard to blast out unpopular leaders.
They tried to blast out Jeremy Corbyn twice, but he survived, even when only 20% of the party room supported him.
Although there’s a difference there, Corbyn was propped up by the party membership. I don’t think they’ll have the same loyalty to Starmer.
Guess we’ll just have to see what happens. I reckon they’ll just continue waddling about until 2029 and the voters end up destroying them in full, being like “You thought 1931 was bad for Labour? Mate, you have no idea.”
Quick look at Arange’s keys.
Key 1 – Quite obviously has turned false tonight.
If they tip Starmer out soon, Keys 2 + 3 will also turn false.
Key 4 is already false.
Key 7 – Major policy change. I’m guessing this is false given Starmer has been pushing for further inclusion within the EU this year (it wasn’t a platform policy in 2024). This is a slightly subjective key.
Key 9 – Def False. The Mandelson saga
Key 12 – Def False. Starmer is no longer trying to appeal to moderate voters from a challenging party. He can’t even appeal to voters from his own party.
“Although there’s a difference there, Corbyn was propped up by the party membership. I don’t think they’ll have the same loyalty to Starmer.”
=======
Exactly Kirsdarke, and Starmer knows it.
It’s why he’s spent the past six months attacking anyone who pokes their head up.
* He sacked Rayner in Sep 2025
* There was the “backgrounding scandal” involving Wes Streeting before Christmas, &
* He blocked Andy Burnham from standing for Parliament in Feb.
Starmer knows that if it comes down to a vote of the membership, he’ll be smashed, so he’s trying everything to avoid a vote being triggered in the first place.
Scotland Parliament count has started and the Lib Dems have retained the seat of Orkney Islands with a swing of about 8% to them
Good to see the Greens numbers growing now
Bring on Scotland and Wales
Yeah, Greens making some headway in Manchester at the moment.
Just on this blasting out of Prime Minister’s business.
They end their tenure usually via one of two methods.
A. Blasted out by the voters, or
B. Blasted out by their own party.
Quick look at Australia over the past 50 years.
* 1975. Whitlam blasted out by the voters
* 1983. Fraser’s turn to be blasted out by the voters
* 1991. Hawke blasted out by his party
* 1996. Keating blasted out by the voters
* 2007. Howard’s turn, and he was also blasted out of his seat
* 2010. Rudd blasted out by his party
* 2013. Gillard vis a vis Rudd
* 2013. Rudd blasted out by the voters
* 2015. Abbott blasted out by his party
* 2018. Turnbull blasted out by his party
* 2022. Morrison blasted out by the voters
Just to add, there is also Option C and Option D, though these options are rarely used.
Option C = retirement on one’s terms (Menzies)
Option D = disappearing at a beach (Holt)
LibDems have now overtaken the Tories with regard to the council seat count.
* Reform 429 (council seats)
* LibDems 271
* Tories 268
* Labour 254
I don’t know much about the LibDems except they used to be known as the “Whigs” during the 1800’s.
The Lib Dems used to be called the Liberal party. Unlike our “Liberals”, they actually were a liberal party, in competition with the Conservatives (Tories). From about 1920, their role in UK politics was taken over by a rising Labour party and they’ve been a minor party since.
First time in over 100 years that Labor will lose Wales, although they may end up being part of the new government
Interesting to hear that SNP don’t sound confident about getting a majority, I’m sure the Greens will be happy to help them to form Government. See where it lands
Ante Meridian says:
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 8:29 pm
Where in blazes are the Scotland and Wales results? Surely they must have started counting by now?
*********
They started around 9am UK time. It’s now 13.20
We have centralised counts over here so the count for the entire constituency has to be completed before a result is announced.
Unlike Australia we don’t announce the results of individual polling stations (because we don’t count like that in the first place)
Welsh constituencies are also quite large in terms of electorate so even slower than happens on Australia.
In Scotland the list results can’t be announced until (a) the list vote has been counted and (b) all the constituencies in a region have been counted.
Patience is a virtue her wonders to behold.
The SNP won Shetland form the Lib Dems, a big result
Nadia,
Yes, being removed by waves at a beach is indeed a rare one, only used in extreme circumstances.
Do the Poms have any beaches they could make use of in this situation?
Wahoo Greens hit 100, plenty more to come
The current Lib Dems were formed in the late 1980s by a merger of the Liberals (whigs – last in power in the 1922 but never really recovered since the failure of Gladstone’s 2nd Home Rule Bill in 1893) and the Social Democrats a break away from the Labour Party, when it was heading towards Trotskyism in 1981. For a while the Soc Dems seemed likely to supplant Labour but in the end poor electoral results for both parties forced a merger.
Welsh Labour looks like their leader is getting booted and losing 20 seats even with the big expansion.
Copied from the Guardian election feed –
“Labour MPs who want Andy Burnham to stand for parliament so that he can replace Keir Starmer assume a) that winning a byelection in a safe Labour seat in the north-west would be straightforward and b) that, in an election to replace him as mayor of Greater Manchester, Labour would have a decent chance of winning that too.”
***********
The way the electorate is ay the moment there is no guarantee Burnham would win a by-election or Labour would retain the Greater Manchester mayorality.
Whilst regional mayors like Burnham aren’t responsible for a lot of local government services they are influential positions in their regions and Reform would absolutely love it if they won it.
And Burnham can’t be Labour Leader without being an MP because the party constitution states the leader has to be a member of the House of Commons.
I must say, I prefer how we do counting here. This is taking forever!
One of the Greens wins shows why preferential voting is massively superior.
Greens – 20.5%
Labor – 17.3%
Libdem – 17.3%
Ref – 16.1%
IND – 14.3%
Con – 11.3%
Your Party – 3.4%
Re Nadia @9:48.
Menzies was the last Australian Prime Minister to take Option C, retire at a time of his own choosing, back in January 1966, so just over 60 years ago. In fact, thinking back, he might be the only one apart from caretakers. It is more common for State Premiers, e.g. Dan Andrews, Bob Carr, Neville Wran, Bob Askin.
Looking back over earlier PMs, there’s another option little used in office these days, Option E, dying (while not disappearing at a beach). We lost Curtin in 1945 and Lyons in 1939 that way. There’s also Option F, losing Parliamentary majority, which happened for Fadden in 1941 and was par for the course in the first years of Federation.