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Nigel Farage celebrated Reform UK's early local election surge at the party's Millbank headquarters, as Labour faced a Red Wall bloodbath and the deadline for Conservative defections to Reform passed without further crossings.

Speaking to supporters, Farage declared British politics had been permanently reshaped. "I think what you're witnessing is an historic change in British politics. Forget left-right, there is no more left-right. It is gone, it is out of the window, it's finished.

"As you can see, we are scoring stunning percentages in traditional old Labour areas. We're currently averaging about 39% of the vote, of the seats that are in already, we're currently on 145 seats won. We are way exceeding anything that I thought."

Reform spokesman Zia Yusuf confirmed the party had closed the door on any further Conservative defections. "The deadline has dead," he told the BBC.

The party posted on X: "It's clear that Labour voters are switching directly to Reform. We are penetrating the red wall in a way the pollsters and experts simply didn't predict. Britain wants Reform."

Conservative, Liberal Democrat and even Green party politicians have all defected to Reform UK in the past.

Most notably, Nadine Dorries, Nadhim Zahawi, Lee Anderson, Robert Jenrick, and Suella Braverman all defected from the Tories.

What are other parties saying about Labour's local election losses?

The Greens, who are expected to benefit from Labour losses in inner-city areas and majority Muslim communities, rounded on Foreign Secretary David Lammy after he argued against replacing Sir Keir mid-term. Lammy told the BBC that you "don't change the pilot during the flight."

A Green Party source hit back: "David Lammy has been saying all night that 'you don't change the pilot just because you hit some turbulence' - that David can't see that the plane is in freefall says everything we need to know about how out of touch the Labour Party is.

"These early election results are clear - people are rejecting this out-of-touch Labour Party."

Has any Labour MP called for Starmer to go?

The Labour leadership came under fire from one of its own in the early hours of Friday when Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash - who has previously said he did not expect Sir Keir to lead the party into the next general election - demanded the Prime Minister set out a timetable for his resignation.

Brash told the Guardian: "I think the very best thing the Prime Minister could do now is address the nation tomorrow and set out a timetable for his departure.

"We can then have an orderly transition, one that, by the way, ensures the full breadth of talent within the Labour Party is able to stand, should it want to."