Local election results live: Starmer faces mounting pressure from MPs and unions over heavy losses

Senior Labour MP Debbie Abrahams said the “usual refrain” from voters was “we have concerns about your leader”.

Asked if Sir Keir Starmer should have a timetable for leaving if he cannot improve the situation, the work and pensions committee chairwoman told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I hope, as he has said, that he will always put the country first and we have to recognise the dangers that we are in now.

“But on this trajectory it doesn’t look good, not just for locals – I lost some really dear colleagues who worked so hard for their constituency – but it means the prospect of us not just losing an election, but who we would lose to and that makes me really fearful.”

She suggested Sir Keir had a “matter of months” to make a decision about his future.

Donald Trump has congratulated John Swinney after the SNP retained its position as the largest party in Holyrood for the fifth consecutive election.

In a post on social media, the US president wrote: “Congratulations to John Swinney on winning his Re-Election for First Minister of Scotland.

“He is a good man, who worked very hard, along with the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, with respect to Tariff relief for Great Scottish Whiskey — and deserves this Big Electoral Victory!”

It comes after increased tensions between the president and Sir Keir Starmer over the Iran war, with the prime minister refusing to heed Mr Trump’s calls for military assistance in the Strait of Hormuz.

Former minister Catherine West has joined calls for Starmer to stand down.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet said she “firmly” believes he should outline his intention to resign and oversee an “orderly transition” to a new leader.

Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell has described the results as “incredibly painful” for prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

She said he “takes responsibility” for Labour’s disastrous results, adding: “He is very reflective, he’s understanding as I do that these are very tough results for Labour, incredibly painful.”

She told BBC Breakfast: “He is accepting responsibility, he is saying we’ve got to change. He hears what people are saying.”

She says the right course of action is for the party to “reflect, to hear, to listen” and to “get behind Keir as the leader and go forward as one team”.

Challenged over a potential leadership challenge, she insisted Sir Keir will still be prime minister in six months time, adding “we don’t do hostile takeovers in the Labour party”.

Labour MP Connor Naismith, who has called for a change in leadership, dismissed suggestions that Andy Burnham would struggle to win a by-election to enter Parliament.

Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham would need to win a Westminster seat if he is to challenge for the party leadership but Labour was hammered in local elections in the North West.

Crewe and Nantwich MP Mr Naismith said Mr Burnham would be able to defy that trend.

He said: “Andy is the most popular Labour politician in the country. The suggestion that he wouldn’t be able to win in some of the seats Labour is currently struggling to win is just wrong.

“Ironically, this is precisely why we need him back on the front line of national politics.”

In a post on social media last night, he described Sir Keir Starmer as a “man of integrity” but said new leadership was needed to “bring together a broad coalition of voters”.

It did not take an avid political insider to realise that Labour were in serious trouble in Wales and had been for a long time.

Nearly half a million of its 3 million population are estimated to live in “deep poverty”, while the decline of its industrial base has meant that large parts of the Welsh Valleys suffer with high deprivation, an underperforming education sector and lower income levels.

The Independent’s senior reporter Holly Evans was in Newport yesterday. You can read her full report below:

All the results are in from Scotland’s elections, which have seen the Scottish National Party (SNP) lose seats, but remain the largest party in Holyrood.

While leader John Swinney declared the SNP has “emphatically” won the election, his party fell short of the 65 seats needed for a majority.

Labour lost four seats to sit at 17.

Reform UK, meanwhile, gained 17 seats to match Labour’s numbers.

The Scottish Greens gained six seats to take their total to 15, and the Liberal Democrats also gained six, with a total of 10 seats.

The Conservatives fell by 19, and now hold just 12 seats in Holyrood.

Labour veteran Clive Betts said the Cabinet should make it clear to Sir Keir Starmer he has to go “in the not too distant future”.

The Sheffield South East MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I don’t think rebooting and refreshing and renewing, and all the words that have been thrown around, are going to make any difference, unfortunately.”

The public had “stopped listening” to the prime minister, he said.

“I think there are three scenarios: one is that Keir carries on until the next election and we lose, and we lose badly.

“Secondly, that in the end, Keir decides to stick it out, and there is a move to get rid of him, an internal battle, and then the public don’t like parties that fight amongst themselves, so that could lead to an election defeat.

“Or in the end, Keir recognises, for the good of the country and the government, he has to step down at some point in the not too distant future.

“I think there’s now a responsibility on the Cabinet to talk to Keir and to recognise, as they obviously are picking up on the doorstep, that this can’t carry on forever.

“There has to be a timetable. There has to be a way to actually bring in a new leader in a proper and constructive manner in the next few months.”

There are still several councils left to declare results following Thursday’s election.

They are mostly in London: Lambeth, Lewisham, Watford, Croydon, are expected to declare at around 4pm on Saturday.

Tower Hamlets in east London is expected to be the last to declare at around 6pm.

Bradford is also yet to declare.

It has been a torrid 24 hours for Labour in England, who have lost overall control on a number of councils it had previously controlled for decades.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party have currently won 997 seats – and lost 1,406.

Reform UK have been the biggest winners, up 1,442 councillors to 1,444.

Results have been mixed for Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives, who took Westminster City Council back from Labour, but lost a long-standing majority in Essex to Reform. They have lost 557 councillors so far.

The Green Party start the day on 515 councillors, a gain of 374. They hailed a huge victory in Hackney’s mayoral election on Friday, which had previously been held by Labour.

The Liberal Democrats have also gained councillors, up 151 to 834.

Counting in several councils continues today. We will be bringing you all the latest in this blog.