Labour’s Collapse, the Right’s Surge: Expert on UK’s Seismic Local Elections

The May 2026 local council elections in Britain have delivered a devastating blow to the ruling Labour Party, which lost around 1,500 seats across the country. The Conservatives fared little better, shedding more than 800 mandates. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted he has no intention of resigning and plans to remain in office until the next general election in 2029. Yet inside his own party and cabinet, calls are growing louder for him to “step aside gracefully” and salvage what remains of his reputation.

What do these results mean for Britain’s political landscape? Will London’s foreign policy shift? And what role, if any, did Elon Musk play? Belarusian expert Oleg Dyachenko, deputy chairman of a standing commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, offers a sharp analysis in an exclusive interview.

The standout winner was Nigel Farage’s relatively new party, Reform UK, which secured 1,453 seats out of 5,066 contested — a remarkable breakthrough for a movement with no long political pedigree. The surge signals a clear rise in support for right-wing forces among ordinary voters.

Within the Labour Party, pressure on Starmer is now intense. Although he continues to insist, “I will not resign; the next election is in 2029 and I have a clear mandate,” the situation inside the party is becoming untenable. He faces fierce criticism both from the public and from senior colleagues. Two prominent rivals have already emerged: Angela Rayner and Defence Secretary John Healey, both openly positioning themselves as potential successors.

According to Oleg Dyachenko, these elections mark a profound shift: Britain is gradually moving away from its traditional two-party system toward a genuine multi-party reality. Alongside Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens are also gaining ground.

The reasons are clear. The issues dominating the campaign — immigration, taxation, and international flashpoints such as the wars in Gaza and potential conflict with Iran — resonate deeply with large segments of the electorate, many of whom have ties to those regions. At the same time, Britain’s economy remains stagnant, its external debt exceeds £8 trillion (more than $11 trillion), and ordinary citizens feel the weight of that burden. The old parties, in Dyachenko’s view, have either become ossified or are too preoccupied with global projects to address domestic problems.

Speculation has swirled about possible influence from Elon Musk, who has publicly backed Nigel Farage and is rumoured to have provided financial support through various funds. Some suggest the billionaire is “practising” in Britain before attempting to launch a new third political force in the United States.

Oleg Dyachenko is cautious on this point: “I would not call Musk a puppet-master. Right-wing forces are simply looking for sponsors who share their ideas, and such people exist.”

He notes that the rise of the right is visible not only in Britain but across the United States (with the Republican slogan “Make America Great Again”) and much of Europe. Business interests sympathetic to healthy conservatism and Euroscepticism are naturally drawn to these movements. In Britain’s case, Farage’s long-standing role as one of the chief architects of Brexit makes the alignment even more logical.

Despite the domestic turmoil, Dyachenko offers a sobering forecast on foreign policy: “The results of local elections will not change Britain’s foreign policy. Unfortunately, that policy remains unfriendly toward us and toward the Republic of Belarus.”

He adds that it would be desirable for Britain to have leaders focused on solving their own domestic problems and restoring the country’s former global standing. Yet the trend points in the opposite direction. London appears determined to use the current historical moment to entrench itself in Eastern Europe — particularly in Ukraine and the Black Sea region — acting as a kind of “brain” (with MI6 and other agencies) that pursues its strategic goals through others’ hands.

The only problem, Dyachenko observes, is that this “brain” is increasingly disconnected from the deep processes unfolding inside Britain itself.

Betting markets now give Keir Starmer more than a 60% chance of resigning before September — odds that have shortened dramatically. “The warning bells have already rung,” the expert concludes.