Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

The political landscape in Scotland, Wales and England's councils has shifted dramatically over the past three days.

On Thursday, voters went to the polls. Ballots were cast for seats in the Senedd, Holyrood, local councils and some mayoral elections in England.

Counting lasted through the night and by early Friday morning, the results began trickling in. Labour lost control of its first council at 02:01 BST - the result in Redditch was a sign of things to come for Keir Starmer's party.

Reform's sweeping gains became apparent early on, and continued to build throughout Friday - leading up to a total of over 1,400 councillors.

As the picture in England became clearer, with Labour and Tory losses making way for Reform and Green gains, results for the Senedd and Holyrood began pouring in.

There was soon bad news for Welsh Labour, as First Minister Eluned Morgan arrived at a count expecting to lose her seat and the election. And she did.

The BBC forecast Plaid Cymru to become the largest party in the Senedd at around 16:30. Less than two hours later, it had picked up 43 of the 96 seats available - six short of a majority.

Image source, bbc

Meanwhile in Scotland, Labour admitted defeat. A sea of yellow crossed the country as John Swinney's SNP took the most seats, but it also fell short of a majority.

Today, Starmer admitted Labour "made unnecessary mistakes", but refused calls from Labour MPs to quit. As the final few council results were declared, he appointed Labour veterans Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman to adviser roles.

But hours later, a surprise ultimatum was issued as Labour MP Catherine West told the PM's cabinet: challenge Starmer by Monday, or I will.

As our chief political correspondent writes, this doesn't necessarily mean that West wants to be Labour's next leader, but it does challenge Starmer's position ahead of a widely trailed speech he's set to make on Monday.

We're pausing our live coverage there, but there's further reading on the election results across BBC News:

• Our BBC Politics colleagues have more on the challenges issued over the weekend to Starmer's leadership
• Laura Kuenssberg asks whether the prime minister can turn it around after Labour's election battering
• And the election results appear in maps and charts, as significant change occurs in Scotland, Wales and England - here they are, at a glance

Jamie McConkey
Political reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Labour Mayor of West Yorkshire has said her party is "facing oblivion" if Thursday's local election performance is repeated - calling it a "catastrophic set of results" for the party.

Tracy Brabin says in a statement that "we cannot waste the opportunity of Labour being in government" and that people are "impatient for change".

Labour suffered heavy losses across West Yorkshire, losing Wakefield and Calderdale to Reform UK, and losing control of Leeds and Kirklees.

The Labour leader of Bradford Council lost her seat to Reform UK. Tracy Brabin declines to address the question of the Labour Party's leadership directly in her statement, but she says that there is "still time left... to deliver a brighter future of for the people of this country".

But she warns that it needs to happen "quickly and decisively with a renewed boldness".

Hannah Bayman
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

The Greens have won 39 seats to take control of Lewisham Council from Labour, with all 19 wards now declared.

Labour, who were the only party to control the council since 1971, won 14 seats. One seat in the Crofton Park ward is vacant after it was won by Green candidate Liam Shrivastava.

Shrivastava is prohibited from taking the seat, as he was yesterday elected as Lewisham’s first Green Party mayor.

A by-election will be held, at a date to be set.

Lewisham was under no overall control from 2006-2010. Labour had controlled the council at all other times since 1971, when the party ousted the Conservatives.

Downing Street doubts West will get 81 signatories required to challenge Starmerpublished at 20:41 BST

20:41 BST

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Attempts have been made tonight by "soft left" Labour MPs to dissuade Catherine West from provoking a Labour leadership challenge on Monday. She has said if other candidates don’t put their names forward, she will attempt to get the 81 signatories required to challenge Sir Keir Starmer.

Downing Street sources don’t think she will reach that threshold.

And an MP supportive of Starmer has said if she fails to get the numbers it could help the PM by demonstrating a lack of appetite for a challenge.

But Andy Burnham supporters had a different plan – to prop up the PM temporarily but encourage him (and to encourage cabinet members to encourage him) to announce a timetable for his departure which would allow the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to find a parliamentary seat, fight a by-election, and come back to Westminster.

So they have tried to persuade Catherine West – also on the centre-left of the party – to get on board and abandon plans to provoke a challenge right now.

I understand she hasn’t been persuaded and – as things stand – will proceed with her plan on the grounds that it would take too long for Burnham to return.

Here's how things look now that all councils have declared results in England - and after Scotland and Wales announced their figures on Friday.

Wales

• Plaid Cymru are the biggest party in the Senedd with 43 seats, falling short of the 49 needed for a majority
• Reform UK takes 34 seats - they had none in the 2021 election. The Green Party are up two seats and the Lib Dems have one
• Labour, who had been in power in the Senedd for 27 years, are 35 seats down on their previous performance, with just nine seats
• It was also a big loss for the Conservatives, who lost 22 seats in this election, leaving them with just seven

Scotland

• The SNP won for a fifth consecutive time with 58 seats - down six from last time - but failed to achieve the 65 needed for a majority
• Labour lost four seats bringing them to a total of 17
• Reform gained 17 up from zero, putting them on a par with Labour in Scotland
• The Scottish Greens and Lib Dems both gained six, bringing them to 15 and 10 respectively
• And the Conservatives lost 19, leaving them with 12 seats

England

• With only a few wards left to finalise their results, Reform UK is the biggest winner, gaining 1,451 seats
• Labour is down 1,493 councillors from the last local election in England, securing a little over a 1,000 this time around
• The Lib Dems placed third after picking up 155 new councillors, leaving them with 844 seats
• The Conservatives are left with 801 council seats after losing 563
• Successful local elections for the Greens saw them picking up 438 new council seats, bringing their total to 584
• Meanwhile independent parties made some gains too, as 43 more councillors took places on councils

Karl Mercer
BBC London political editor

The red blanket that had cloaked London's councils is no more.

The capital, which before Thursday's vote had 21 of its 32 boroughs run by Labour, looks very different today.

On Friday, the capital got a directly elected Green mayor - Zoë Garbett - winning in the former Labour stronghold of Hackney. Hours later, Lewisham voted in a Green mayor too.

It's also the first time that the Greens have won three councils in London, taking Waltham Forest, Hackney and Lewisham from Labour.

Another first for Reform too, which now runs a council, Havering, for the first time in London.

There's more splashes of blue on the map too, with the Conservatives taking back control of Westminster which they lost to Labour in 2022.

They also managed to hold off a Reform UK challenge in Bexley and Bromley. "I'm very proud of how we have done," said leader Kemi Badenoch.

And it is not a pretty picture for Labour. The party did hold on to Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow, but their worst fears were realised in a number of inner London boroughs.

• Read on to find out who won in your area

Nearly 48 hours since polls closed on Thursday, and the last council in England has now been announced as an Aspire gain from no overall control.

Some wards still need to finalise results but below is a quick look at what the general political picture looks like in England this evening:

Aspire has won a majority in Tower Hamlets, taking the council from no overall control. Aspire's leader Lutfur Rahman was re-elected as mayor of Tower Hamlets yesterday.

With that, we now have results from every council in England.

Hannah Bayman
Reporting from the Lewisham count

The Green Party has won control of Lewisham Council from Labour.

The Greens have now won at least 28 of 54 seats, to give them an outright majority, with a number of the council's 19 wards still to declare. Labour have nine seats so far.

No other party but Labour has controlled the council for 55 years, since the last Conservative administration in 1971.

Labour had held every seat on the council since 2018. The council was under no overall control between 2006-2010 and before that the last Conservative administration of Lewisham ended in 1971.

Labour controlled the council from 1971 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2026.

David Deans
BBC Wales political reporter

BBC Wales understands that Labour is likely to abstain in the vote to confirm Rhun ap Iorwerth as first minister.

The move is not a surprise but makes it clear that the Plaid Cymru leader faces little obstacle to take the helm of the Welsh government.

It is thought Plaid wants the vote to take place on Tuesday - the Senedd must give 24 hours notice if a meeting can take place.

There is still the unresolved matter of who will be the presiding officer.

In Wales, Shavanah Taj - the Welsh Labour candidate elected to represent Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf - says she "wasn't expecting to see so little" of her party in the Senedd.

Speaking to BBC Walescast, the former general secretary for education union TUC says: "The post mortem at the moment is that we need to regroup as the group of nine of us that are there."

Conversations on the doorstep signalled it was a "two-horse race" between Plaid and Reform, she says, adding there was an attitude that Wales need a change, and it may serve Labour well to have a "time out".

"There were people really angry at the UK government and the issues there," she said, adding that some people genuinely believed Keir Starmer was running Welsh Labour.

"We need to be very clear, when it comes to Wales, Welsh Labour and UK Labour are two separate entities."

West's efforts could galvanise MPs against Starmerpublished at 18:41 BST

18:41 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

This was a day where the consequences of votes cast on Thursday played out - in the smiles of victors in Cardiff and Edinburgh and the grimaces of Labour folk across Britain.

The intervention of the former minister Catherine West earlier on Radio 4 is a moment, without question - a Labour MP willing to explicitly attempt a leadership challenge, in the hope of dislodging Sir Keir Starmer.

Her efforts may peter out, but they may too galvanise others to also move against him. Already around 30 Labour MPs had publicly said Sir Keir should resign or set out a timetable for his departure.

This weekend has long been seen with trepidation in Downing Street, and with good reason, it turns out.

No 10 will nervously eye the 400-plus army of Labour MPs in the coming hours, before the Prime Minister attempts a reboot in a speech on Monday and the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Now some are turning on Catherine West publicly.

Immigration minister Mike Tapp tells me: “When those within your own walls begin dismantling the gate, the enemy no longer needs a battering ram.

“Reform are loving it. Awful from Catherine West and she should know better.”

Labour MP confident West can 'get to 81'published at 18:08 BST

18:08 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

A Labour MP who is not a prominent public critic of Keir Starmer just called me and said that while they had been blindsided by Catherine West’s announcement, they will be giving her their support on Monday.

They say: “I am reasonably confident she will be able to get to 81."

That’s the number of supporters required to trigger a leadership ballot.

The MP says: “The frustration on the backbenches runs far wider than the voices we’ve heard from publicly. There are far more moderate centrist Labour MPs who also think his time is up.

“Like most Labour MPs I am utterly furious at the cabinet for putting their jobs before the country.”

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

Catherine West has made her intentions clear, but what’s the process for challenging a Labour leader?

A leadership election can only be triggered if the leader resigns, or if Labour MPs launch a challenge when there is no vacancy.

A challenger wishing to oust an incumbent leader must be supported by 20% of Labour MPs. Based on the current number of Labour MPs, 81 would need to support a challenger to formally start the process.

MPs must inform the party's general secretary in writing of their nomination if they have enough backers.

Challenger nominees would then need to seek support from 5% of constituency parties or backing from at least three affiliates of the Labour Party (at least two must be trade unions).

Nominees must be Labour MPs, which would rule out potential challengers like Andy Burnham.

If enough support is gathered to initiate a membership ballot, the incumbent leader is automatically on the ballot paper, and they do not need to seek nominations from MPs.

The timing of any contest would be decided by Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC).

West's move takes a lot of MPs by surprisepublished at 17:43 BST

17:43 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Catherine West’s intervention appears to have taken a lot of Labour MPs by surprise.

One minister - themself quite critical of the prime minister - told me: “She’s mad”.

A prominent backbench critic of Starmer said that it was a “totally irresponsible solo mission”.

However, another minister appeared open to West’s gambit, saying: “Let’s see where this goes”.

And another member of the government simply sent me a link to the Pet Shop Boys performing Go West.

Becky Morton
Political reporter

Cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has just been asked for his reaction to Catherine West’s intervention.

He tells BBC Radio 4’s PM programme he would “caution colleagues” against her proposal to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader.

“We’ve seen over the past 10 years now what happens when a party in government just starts chopping and changing leaders,” he says.

“It just generates instability and it militates against a focus on delivery.”

He adds: “I'm confident going forward that Keir Starmer is the best prime minister for our country.”

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

In the last hour, Labour MP Catherine West issued Keir Starmer's cabinet with an ultimatum after Thursday's election losses - but who is she?

West is the Labour MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet in Greater London, having first been elected in May 2015 to represent Hornsey and Wood Green. She currently sits on the Treasury Committee and also serves as trade envoy to Pakistan.

West was a shadow Foreign Office minister between 2015 and 2017 under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose leadership campaign she supported.

She was later sacked by Corbyn for defying him over a vote on the single market, before returning to the role between 2020 and 2024 under Starmer's leadership.

After Labour's 2024 election victory, she became parliamentary under-secretary in the Foreign Office, a role she held until September 2025.

Whatever happens next, this is a big momentpublished at 17:13 BST

17:13 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

This is a big moment.

Catherine West does not want to be leader of the Labour Party. And she is not going to be leader of the Labour Party.

But she has just kicked off the process by which the Labour Party may have its first leadership election since Keir Starmer was elected in 2020.

West’s plan (which she says she came up with this morning) is this: by Monday, either the cabinet will have ousted Starmer, or West’s colleagues will have a chance to nominate her formally to contest the party leadership.

It is highly unlikely that West would get to the 81 MPs required for there to be a full ballot of party members between her and Starmer.

But suppose she got close? Suppose dozens of Labour MPs backed West as a show of frustration? That might be enough to tempt others to launch a leadership bid.

Or it might fall apart rapidly and prompt Labour MPs to row in behind Starmer, solidifying his position for now.

Let’s see. Whatever happens next, this is a big moment.

Becky Morton
Political reporter

West has not named who she thinks would be the best replacement for Starmer.

"I don't have a candidate. That's part of the problem,” she says.

"But I think there are several people who would like to do it, who have been planning for months, but I'm very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say ‘I will do it’."

She adds: "We need to bring on the person who can really sell Labour values and sell our programme."

West says Starmer has done "excellent" work rebuilding the Labour Party and on foreign policy.

"But what we do worry about is taking the fight to Reform on the domestic agenda, which I think he has less of a grip of, and also trying to identify traditional Labour voters who we've lost so that we can get them back on side and we can win the country in the 2029 general election," she says.

She adds: "We can't just go on with our main spokesperson being Keir."