❗️🇬🇧 - Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party dealt a crushing defeat in the British Local Council Election.

Reform UK, headed by the Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, won at least 1358 seats, up from just 82. Labour lost up to 1051 seats, over half of its seats.

Another major development is the rise of the Welsh and Scottish nationalist parties. Whereas the SNP has been on a steady rise, the victory of Plaid Cymru in Wales, long a Labour stronghold, came as a shock.

The UK political system, long underpinned by the two major parties Labour and Conservative, is becoming increasingly fractured, with 5 viable parties now competing in a first past the post system. The UK has had 4 Prime Ministers in the last 6 years.

The UK's 10-year bond yield is flirting with the 5% level, one of the highest borrowing cost among the world's developed economies, signaling the market expectation for continued political and fiscal instability.