It’s been an eventful day – and there are still many more local election results to go. After a long night in Runcorn, and a full recount, Nigel Farage’s Reform party clinched the win in what had been a Labour safe seat by just six votes – securing a fifth parliamentarian and their first female MP. While the Reform lot could hardly contain their glee, the Labour team struggled to disguise their dejection. Now Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made his first statement on the result, admitting to reporters that ‘the results are disappointing’ for the reds. Talk about an understatement…
Going on the PM insisted:
I could stand here and say to you ‘opposition parties always do well in elections like this. It was very close in Runcorn. Etcetera, etcetera.’ What I want to say is my response is: we get it. We were elected in last year to bring about change.

Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in