Early England election results make it clear: we are in an era of five-party politics

While Labour losses and Reform gains are obvious, the nature of how people actually voted is much more nuanced

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English local election results require careful interpretation. Not all places have them at the same time, a relatively small proportion complete their counts overnight and the early headlines may not reflect outcomes later in the day.

But the headline number on Friday morning – that Labour has lost more than 250 councillors - will only grow as the day progresses. While Labour will want to stress that these “mid-term” elections often go badly for the incumbent Westminster government, they rarely go quite as badly as this.