George Parker

Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure after Labour suffered heavy losses in England's local elections, with Nigel Farage's Reform UK making historic gains across traditional Labour and Conservative strongholds.

As the political map shifts dramatically, George Parker, Financial Times political editor, joins me now to sift through the rubble.

George, good morning.

Morning.

So just to give us in summary, what's the picture like?

Scotland, Wales and England.

Is it catastrophic for Starmer?

Yes, I think it is.

I mean, it's one of the worst sets of results we've ever seen from a governing party.

The Labour Party lost 1,400 odd seats.

They were defending 2,500.

So a large proportion of the seats they were defending went down the drain.

At the same time, Nigel Farage's Reform UK came up.

And what was if you sort of look below the bonnet of that, you can see the Labour Party being obliterated in some of the working class English towns, places like Wigan or Sunderland by Farage's Reform UK.

And in Wales, where basically Labour's run the roost for the best part of a century, they've lost control there of the Senate.

And in Scotland, the SNP have continued a governance there which lasted for almost 20 years.

So all across the UK, apart from Northern Ireland, the Labour Party has been absolutely hammered.

Now, what about the Conservatives?

I mean, they were looking like a party that was doomed in any event and that Farage would certainly eat their lunch.

Obviously, his appetite is broader than just the Conservatives.