Last night, Britain's Labour Party got absolutely trounced in local elections.

The BBC has a live tracker with only a portion of the results in as of Friday morning Eastern time. This is what it looked like at time of publishing:

The Labour Party, which currently controls Parliament, lost hundreds of seats. Despite being billed as "center-left" by the fake news, it is actually to the left of American Democrats on almost every issue. Voters in the UK just resoundingly rejected them at the polls.

The prime minister, Keir Starmer, responded to the voice of the people by ... doubling down on his resolve?

The results are tough. They are very tough, and there's no sugarcoating it. We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country ... When voters send a message like this, we must reflect and we must respond.

Reflect and respond how?

If your entire platform - your whole system of political ideology, governance, and vision for the future - is not wanted by the people, how should you respond? The only two possible ways besides outright tyranny are to 1) overhaul your movement's political philosophy to become something entirely new, or 2) to resign and admit you no longer represent the will of the people.

Starmer seems disinterested in either. Despite being the most destructive and hated prime minister in recent British history (an impressive feat, to be sure), he wants to stay the course with a stiff upper lip. For the good of the nation, of course!

We were elected to deal with these challenges, so that's what we're gonna do.

You were elected to "deal with" the "challenge" of ... losing at the polls? I'm afraid to ask what the tangible application of that idea looks like. Perhaps this additional quote will provide perspective:

I was elected to change this country - tough days like this don't weaken my determination to do that. They strengthen it.

Translation: Get with my program, peasants!

Reform UK, which is actually a moderate, slightly right-leaning party by American standards despite being billed as "far-right" by the media, won huge.

The more moderate Liberal Democrat Party also picked up a good number of seats, while the Conservative Party/Tories (essentially a bunch of RINOs, per American terminology) lost seats. The far-left hippies in the Green Party also picked up some steam. The country's actual right-wing party, Restore Britain, just launched this year and did not have time to campaign outside leader Rupert Lowe's local borough of Great Yarmouth, but it will be interesting to see what happens with their platform in the future.

Understand: These local councils are a much bigger barometer for national politics than local governments are in the U.S.

Local councils are the lifeblood of British politics. They have less autonomy than their American counterparts, but they are essentially a mayor, town council, and county commission all rolled into one, and they have historical, relational and spiritual influence that is hard for many Americans to understand.

Starmer might be more disconnected from his countrymen than any politician in our lifetimes.