Lewis Goodall

Labour are losing support in every direction, particularly in the north of England, to reform.

They're now down 400.

They're losing about 50% of all of the seats, all of the council seats that they are defending.

That is their attrition rate.

There are midterm blues, but this is of a different order of magnitude for a governing party.

Not least because what we are seeing is not just traditionally what one might see with an unpopular government.

in the sense that they are losing votes and seats and councils and support to the main opposition party.

That is not happening.

The Conservatives are losing council seats for the fifth consecutive year on the bounce, down 264 seats.

There are some seats in some areas where they've got a little bit of sign of revival, but generally speaking, they too are losing ground to reform.

Labour, the thing that makes this different for Labour is that they are losing ground and support in some cases to an existential extent, i.e.

being wiped out in councils in the north of England, in particular in the Midlands, that they have controlled government.

for 50 years or longer ever since these councils were created.

And it is unusual because they are bleeding support in two directions to two basically new forces on the political scene, Reform and the Greens.

And we haven't even talked yet.

about what is going on in Scotland and Wales.

Scotland looks like Labour might not do too badly by comparison to some of the predictions.

But in Wales, it is nothing short of catastrophic, with two things at the time of recording that we're hearing.

One is that the Welsh First Minister, Eluned Morgan, is very likely to lose her seat.

The first time that a head of government in this country anywhere has lost their seat at a parliamentary election.