LONDON (AP) — Partial results Friday from local elections in England showed big losses for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party and gains for the hard-right party Reform U.K.
The votes are being widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he was elected less than two years ago.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north such as Hartlepool that once were solid Labour turf. The picture will change throughout Friday as results come in from the majority of local councils, including Labour strongholds like London. Votes will also be counted in contests for semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales.
Farage said the results marked “an historic change in British politics.”
A Labour rout could trigger moves by restive party lawmakers to oust a leader who led them to power in July 2024. Even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy cautioned the party not to topple the prime minister, saying “you don’t change the pilot during the flight.”
The Green Party also hoped to increase its vote share and win hundreds of council seats in urban centers and university towns. The results reflect a fragmentation of British politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservatives.
The Conservative Party is also expected to lose ground, with the centrist Liberal Democrats making some gains.
Reform UK, running on an anti-establishment, anti-immigration message, also is eyeing breakthroughs in Scotland and Wales, though pro-independence nationalists the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru are more likely to form governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff.
John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said Britain is entering a new political era where "none of the parties are very big.
“Even Reform are probably not quite at 30% of the vote, so the fracturing of British politics is underlined by these results,” he told the BBC.
Starmer’s popularity has plunged after repeated missteps and U-turns on policies such as welfare reform. His government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living — tasks made harder by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The prime minister has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
Poor election results could trigger a challenge from a high-profile rival such as Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner or Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Alternately, Starmer could face pressure from the party to set a timetable for his departure after an orderly leadership contest.
“I don’t think Keir Starmer should survive these results," said Labour lawmaker Jonathan Brash, who represents Hartlepool in Parliament. “We have to be bolder, and we have to go further. And quite frankly, we need new leadership in order to achieve that.”
Britain's Reform Party leader Nigel Farage poses for photographers with his poll card at a polling station in Walton on the Naze, England, Thursday, May 7, 2026 before he casts his vote in the local elections.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and wife Victoria arrive at a polling station in central London, Thursday, May 7, 2026 to cast their votes in the local elections.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Iran war’s shaky ceasefire was further strained on Friday as the United Arab Emirates responded to a missile and drone attack hours after the U.S. said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliated against Iranian military facilities.
There were no immediate reports of damage in the UAE.
Iran and the U.S. are trading blows as their negotiators are seeking a deal to end the fighting, but so far they’ve avoided a return to all-out fighting. It's not clear how close the two sides are to deal on issues like Iran's nuclear program, which the U.S. and Israel vowed to halt when they launched the war on Feb. 28, or the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that Iran has all but closed in a bid to pressure the global economy.
On Thursday, Tehran said it was examining the latest U.S. proposals for ending the war delivered to it via Pakistan, which is serving as a mediator.
Trump played down the exchange of fire between Iran and the U.S. Navy on Thursday. In a phone call with a reporter for ABC, Trump called the retaliatory strikes against Iran “just a love tap.” He insisted the ceasefire is holding and a deal could come “any day,” but reiterated threats of bombing if Tehran does not accept a deal that allows for resumption of oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict.
“They have to understand: If it doesn’t get signed, they’re going to have a lot of pain,” he told reporters in Washington.
Iranian state media said the country’s forces exchanged fire with “the enemy” on Qeshm Island in Strait of Hormuz. It also reported loud noises and continuous defensive fire in western Tehran late Thursday night.
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has largely held since April 8. In-person talks between the two countries, hosted by Pakistan last month, failed to reach an agreement to end the war that began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
The UAE's defense ministry advised residents not to approach, photograph or touch “any debris or fragments that have fallen as a result of successful air interceptions.”
Hours earlier, the U.S. military said it had intercepted Iranian attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday night and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces.”
U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defense strikes.
The U.S. military said no ships were hit. It said it doesn’t seek escalation but “remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”
President Donald Trump told reporters that the ceasefire was holding despite the violence.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
“We expect an agreement sooner rather than later,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said. “We hope the parties will reach a peaceful and sustainable solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but to international peace as well.”
He declined to give a timeline.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in televised remarks, said Islamabad remained in “continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire.”
Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to resume next week in Washington, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held May 14 and 15.
Earlier on Thursday, a shipping data company reported that Iran has created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the crucial strait.
The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial vessels bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. Still, hope that the two-month conflict could soon be over buoyed international markets.
The report by shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence that Iran has established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the strait raised concerns over the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.
The agency, called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, is “positioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait,” Lloyd’s reported in an online briefing Thursday. Lloyd’s said the authority had emailed it an application form for ships seeking passage.
On Friday, an oil tanker that passed through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April arrived off South Korea's coast for its 1 million barrels of crude to be unloaded at the HD Hyundai Oilbank refinery. South Korea, which last year imported more than 60% of its crude through the strait, has capped prices of gasoline and other petroleum products as the war raises fears of an energy crisis.
Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports. The disruptions have sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy.
The new Iranian agency formalizes a system Iran has used to let ships through the strait and charge tolls during the war. Iran aims to control which ships pass and, for at least some vessels, impose a tax on their cargo.
Maritime law experts say Iran’s demands to vet or tax vessels violate international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls for countries to permit peaceful passage through their territorial waters. The U.S. has threatened to impose sanctions on companies that pay tolls to Iran.
The U.S. and its Gulf allies are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to support a resolution that condemns Iran’s chokehold on the strait and threatens sanctions. A prior resolution calling for reopening the strait was vetoed by Iran's allies Russia and China.
McAvoy reported from Honolulu.
Two men sit in a small boat on the water as cargo ships are anchored in the background in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Cargo ships, including bulk carriers and general cargo vessels, sit at anchor offshore as a small motorboat passes in the foreground, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4 , 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
A tanker, left, and a car carrier are anchored at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from the coast near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
