AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.News AnalysisInsurgent parties like Reform U.K. surged at the polls this week. But the British electoral system wasn’t built for multiparty democracy.Listen · 8:31 min “The electorate are fed up with the fact that their lives aren’t changing quickly enough,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said on Friday, after his Labour Party suffered significant losses at the polls.Credit...Leon Neal/Getty ImagesBy Michael D. ShearMichael D. Shear reported from London and from Dumbarton and Edinburgh in Scotland.Published May 9, 2026Updated May 10, 2026If British voters wanted to send a message to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Thursday’s elections were practically a primal scream.Across England, Britons ushered more than 1,300 Reform U.K. candidates into municipal office, cementing the populist anti-immigration party of Nigel Farage as the new political force on the right.At the same time, left-leaning voters shouted their dismay with Mr. Starmer on economic inequality, Palestinian rights and his hard-line approach to immigration by ousting about 1,400 members of his Labour Party from local councils and voting for an insurgent Green Party, the centrist Liberal Democrats and independent candidates.In Wales, Labour lost control of the national parliament it had led since 1999. In Scotland, the party’s waning influence dimmed further as the Scottish National Party remained dominant and Labour tied for second place with Reform.“The electorate are fed up with the fact that their lives aren’t changing quickly enough,” Mr. Starmer admitted on Friday morning, after the first results rolled in. But amid fierce speculation that his Labour rivals were scheming to replace him, the prime minister vowed to fight.“I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos,” he said. “We were elected to deal with these challenges, and that’s what we will do.”Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT