Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Labour suffered heavy losses in early UK local election results on Friday, as Nigel Farage&rsquo;s Reform UK made major gains across England and Prime Minister Keir Starmer came under renewed pressure, British media reported. The Independent reported that Labour had lost control of eight councils, including traditional strongholds such as Tameside, Hartlepool and Wigan, as results from Thursday&rsquo;s elections continued to come in.&nbsp; Early tallies showed Reform winning 290 council seats, a gain of 270, while Labour had 229, down 202. The Liberal Democrats had 217 seats, up 29, the Conservatives 159, down 61, and the Greens 47, up 23.&nbsp; PM Starmer acknowledged the scale of Labour&rsquo;s setback, saying the results were &ldquo;very tough&rdquo; and that there was &ldquo;no sugarcoating it.&rdquo; He said Labour had lost dedicated councilors and added that he took responsibility. Reform&rsquo;s strongest early performances came in former Labour areas. In Hartlepool, the party won all 12 contested seats, while Labour lost seven and control of the council. Reform also took Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Conservatives, its first council gain of the 2026 local elections. BBC reported that Reform won 27 seats there, underlining the party&rsquo;s breakthrough in areas where it previously had little local representation.&nbsp; Farage described the results as evidence of &ldquo;historic change in British politics&rdquo; and said Reform was making gains in traditional Labour areas. The party also claimed Labour voters were switching directly to Reform. The results triggered fresh questions about Starmer&rsquo;s leadership. Labour MP Jonathan Brash said the prime minister should step down, while Defence Secretary John Healey rejected that call and said Starmer remained the right person to turn the party&rsquo;s position around. Polling expert Sir John Curtice, who leads the BBC&rsquo;s results analysis, said Reform was winning at least a third of declared seats and performing especially well in areas that backed Brexit. He said Reform appeared to have taken from the Conservatives the coalition that supported Boris Johnson in 2019.&nbsp; The Conservatives also lost ground, although they pointed to some gains as evidence of resilience. The Liberal Democrats and Greens both made gains, adding to signs of a more fragmented electoral landscape. More results are expected throughout Friday from councils in England, along with devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

United Kingdom

Reform UK made major local election gains as Labour lost key councils, increasing pressure on PM UK Sir Keir Starmer while Conservatives also struggled and smaller parties advanced.

Reform UK surges as Labour suffers heavy local election losses

WASHINGTON: The would-be assassin of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was sentenced Friday to just over eight years in prison -- far less than the 30 years prosecutors had sought. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the government would appeal what she called a &quot;woefully insufficient sentence.&quot; Sophie Roske -- who was listed under her birth name Nicholas Roske in court documents but has since chosen to identify as a woman and use female pronouns -- traveled to the justice&#39;s home in June 2022. After spotting two US Marshals standing guard, she walked away and called emergency services on herself. That decision weighed in Roske&#39;s favor during sentencing. &lsquo;Caught and punished&rsquo;&quot;Anyone who thinks they can intimidate a judge or her family by threatening to harm or engage in violence against them is mistaken and they will be caught and punished,&quot; US Judge Deborah Boardman said, according to broadcaster WUSA9. But she added: &quot;It&#39;s truly remarkable, extraordinary, that Sophie Roske called 911 on her own, asked for help, and told the police about her crime.&quot; Roske, then 26, told officials she had traveled from California with a gun and other weapons because she was upset about a looming Supreme Court ruling overturning abortion rights that had been leaked to the press. She pleaded guilty this past April. The Department of Justice sought 30 years to life in prison, arguing: &quot;The conduct falls within the quintessential definition of terrorism: the use of violence or threats of violence to achieve a political goal.&quot; &lsquo;Shooting for 3&rsquo;The government&#39;s sentencing memo also cited a Discord message in which Roske wrote: &quot;I am shooting for 3&quot; &nbsp;-- indicating she had considered targeting additional justices beyond Kavanaugh. &quot;This attempt against the life of a Supreme Court Justice was an attack on the entire judicial system that cannot go unpunished,&quot; Bondi said in a statement last month. Defense attorneys countered that her actions were mitigated by her voluntary abandonment of the plan, disclosure of the offense, peaceful surrender, cooperation with authorities, and history of mental illness. &lsquo;I sincerely apologize&rsquo;They had urged Boardman, appointed by former president Joe Biden, to go below sentencing guidelines, writing: &quot;Sophie&#39;s offense conduct stands in stark contrast to the rest of her personal history.&quot; &quot;I sincerely apologize to the justice and his family,&quot; Roske said in court, according to CNN. Appointed by Donald Trump during his first term as president, Kavanaugh is one of six justices in the court&#39;s conservative wing, against three progressives. The sentencing comes at a time when political violence is in the spotlight, following the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk last month.

Americas

Sophie Roske, who planned to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was sentenced to over eight years in prison, far less than prosecutors sought. 

Articles tagged with "Conservative"

Reform UK surges as Labour suffers heavy local election losses

US Supreme Court judge would-be assassin given eight years in prison