Sir Keir Starmer insisted he would not quit despite an electoral mauling in Labour’s heartlands as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made stunning gains.
The Prime Minister said he was hurting from “tough” results which saw Labour lose hundreds of councillors in England and suffer humiliation in Wales.
First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan failed to win a seat in the newly-expanded Senedd, with Plaid Cymru and Reform hammering Labour.
In Scotland, the SNP looked set to remain the largest party after 19 years in power.
Mr Farage claimed the elections illustrated a “truly historic shift in British politics”.
Labour also suffered from voters switching to the Green Party as Zack Polanski declared the era of two-party politics “is not just dying, it is dead and it is buried”.
Sir Keir, whose position was already under pressure over Labour’s plummeting poll ratings, acknowledged his Government had made “unnecessary mistakes” in office but added: “I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.”
He said: “The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugar-coating it.
“We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.
“And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”
Reform took Sunderland from Labour, a council containing Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s Westminster seat.
It also became the second largest party in Tameside as Labour lost its majority in the Greater Manchester council after an uninterrupted run of 47 years in charge – the area contains the parliamentary constituency of former deputy party leader Angela Rayner.
Reform’s successes also included wins in Havering, its first London borough, and taking Essex County Council – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s local authority – and Suffolk from the Conservatives.
Mr Farage said: “It’s a big, big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way.”
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