UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's push for a "new direction for Britain" towards the EU is facing a difficult political landscape following the local elections, which saw the Labour Party's support fracture. Younger voters, including those in London and university cities, defected to the pro-EU Green Party and larger numbers of socially conservative white working-class voters in Wales, Scotland and northern England switched to Reform, the party founded by Nigel Farage. Despite promising to set a "a new direction for British" at a summit with the EU in July, the government appears to support "dynamic alignment" towards removing some border checks for plant and animal products and aligning with EU rules on food standards.