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UK Minister for Europe Stephen Doughty said Prime Minister Keir Starmer has “accepted responsibility” for Labour’s disastrous local election results, while accusing the hard-right Reform UK party of misleading voters with “false promises”.
Speaking on Euronews morning show Europe Today, Doughty blamed Reform UK leader Nigel Farage for promoting what he described as unrealistic claims about Brexit.
“He said Brexit would make us richer — it hasn’t. He said it would bring down migration. In fact, migration went up,” Doughty told Euronews.
Reform added more than 1,300 council seats across England and made advances in devolved elections in Wales and Scotland, while Labour lost more than 1,100 local seats and surrendered control of councils it had held for decades.
Facing mounting pressure from within his own party, Starmer vowed on Monday to prove Labour’s “doubters” wrong and promised to “face up to the big challenges” confronting the country.
Doughty acknowledged voter frustration, saying many people still felt under financial pressure amid global instability and rising energy costs.
“People are still feeling the pinch in their pocket,” he said. “We as a government have to be seen to be responding to that.”
Despite Labour’s setbacks, Starmer has continued to push for closer cooperation with the European Union, arguing that Britain must strengthen ties with European partners on security, defence and the economy.
“This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation,” Starmer said in a speech following the election results.
Doughty defended the government’s European strategy, insisting the UK must work more closely with allies “in what is a very turbulent world” ahead of the next UK-EU summit, expected in summer 2026.
While Starmer has ruled out rejoining the EU, the customs union or the single market, the UK has increasingly aligned itself with Brussels on foreign and security policy.
Last week, the UK and EU confirmed discussions over possible British support for the bloc’s €90 billion loan package for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Doughty rejected suggestions Britain’s participation amounted to “pay to play”, describing it instead as “a strategic investment” in European security.
He said the UK government’s £1.2 million (€1.38 million) commitment to efforts aimed at locating and returning abducted Ukrainian children taken during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“That’s the most heinous part of this,” Doughty said, accusing Moscow of attempting to erase Ukrainian culture, language and identity.
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