Republicans Pull Ahead In Redistricting & Britain Rebukes Labour | 5.11.26

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Republicans Pull Ahead In Redistricting & Britain Rebukes Labour
Air Date: May 11, 2026
Hosts: John Bickley & Georgia Howe
Guests: Megan Basham, Tim Pierce, Bev Turner
Key Topics: Republican redistricting victories in the U.S., negotiations with Iran and China, and the dramatic shift rightward in U.K. local elections.

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Episode Overview

This episode covers three major political developments:

• The reversal of Democrat gains in U.S. congressional redistricting and the impact on House control
• Trump administration efforts in Middle East diplomacy and an upcoming summit in Beijing
• The seismic results of the U.K.’s local elections, where Labour suffered sweeping losses and the right surged

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Republicans Surge in Redistricting

[02:45] – [07:41]

• Virginia Referendum Fallout

  • Democrats spent ~$60M and deployed top figures (notably Barack Obama) to secure a heavily gerrymandered map in Virginia favoring Democrats 10–1 over Republicans.
  • Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled the new map unconstitutional, nullifying Democrats’ efforts and investment.
    • “All of that money and effort was for naught.” – Megan Basham [04:15]
  • Democrats plan to appeal to SCOTUS, but legal experts deem it unlikely to succeed.

• GOP Redistricting Across the South

  • After the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling against racially gerrymandered districts, Trump personally urged GOP governors to redraw maps.
  • Ron DeSantis in Florida enacted a new map potentially yielding four additional GOP seats—Democrats are now suing there.
  • Aggressive map redraws also underway in Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
    • “Don’t think that you can come down here, issue threats to us, and somehow you’re going to make us flinch. That is not happening.” – Ron DeSantis (via contributor) [05:24]

• National Impact

  • Political analysts predict Republicans may gain between 11 and 19 additional House seats.
  • Democrats, frustrated by the rulings, claim judicial manipulation.
    • “The court could have stopped this by not having the election in the first place. They suckered the people of Virginia. It was a complete disgrace.” – Rep. Ted Lieu [06:38]
    • Hakeem Jeffries likened the situation to a return to the Jim Crow era. [06:55]
  • Despite projected GOP gains, pols point out that with Trump’s approval around 39%, holding the House remains a “steep hill.”

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2. Iran, Peace Talks, and Trump’s Beijing Trip

[08:50] – [12:13]

• Iran Negotiations Stalled

  • The U.S. claims all military objectives have been met, except for Iran’s cache of enriched uranium.
  • Iran responded to a U.S. peace offer, which Trump dismissed as “totally unacceptable” on Truth Social.
  • The nuclear program remains a sticking point. U.S. officials say ending it could be achieved via negotiations, or not.
    • “The ending of the Iranian nuclear program is a different matter... most likely achieved by negotiation, but doesn’t necessarily have to be.” – U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright [09:44]
  • Iran’s ambassador to China called for Beijing to be the peace deal guarantor.

• Upcoming U.S.-China Summit

  • Trump scheduled for a two-day summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing; agenda includes Iran, Taiwan, trade, and AI competition.
  • Trump projects a positive relationship with Xi.
    • “President Xi is a good man, smart man, loves China. I think it’s going to be an amazing trip.” – Donald Trump [10:55]
  • Simultaneously, U.S. Treasury head heads to Japan and South Korea to discuss economic security and urge China not to fund Iran’s regime.
    • “Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and China has been buying 90% of their energy, so they are funding the largest state sponsor of terrorism.” – Treasury Sec. (via Georgia Howe) [11:34]
  • Reopening the Strait of Hormuz set as a summit priority; Beijing expected to press on tariffs and technology, especially AI hardware.

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3. U.K. Local Elections—A Political Earthquake

[12:43] – [17:27]

• Labour Routed, Right Ascendant

  • Labour Party lost over 1,500 local councillors in the worst defeat in decades; signals big risk for its national prospects.
  • Reform Party (Nigel Farage) gained 1,500 seats, marking a formidable shift for right-wing populism.
  • Conservatives (formerly in power 14 years) lost 500 seats.
  • Green Party, now with a pro-Muslim, pro-Palestinian tilt, gained 450 seats.
    • “Labour have been absolutely obliterated... absolutely seismic shift in terms of politics locally.” – Bev Turner [13:15]
  • Per Turner, the result mirrors U.S. midterms in terms of mood and stakes.

• Farage’s “Trumpian” Appeal & Labour’s Reckoning

  • Farage (architect of Brexit) positioned as nationalist, pro-border, lower-tax, anti-bureaucracy—a “Trumpian” platform.
  • Labour PM Keir Starmer is “clinging desperately” to leadership; push for his ouster led by a backbencher, Catherine West (“it’s taken an Aussie within the British Parliament”).
  • “It feels like we are following in the footsteps of what America did with electing President Trump.” – Bev Turner [17:23]

• Tensions and Divisions

  • Green Party’s gains point to rising influence of pro-Muslim, pro-Palestinian councillors—some accused of “horrendously anti-Semitic” campaigns.
  • Reform-leaning areas push for law and order, school reform, national identity, mirroring American political divides.
    • “At the moment, the people who are celebrating are the Farage fans... Can we put schools back in a place where the kids aren’t just being taught about pronouns, et cetera, all the time?” – Bev Turner [16:23]

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Notable Quotes

• “All of that money and effort was for naught.”
  Megan Basham [04:15]

• “Don’t think that you can come down here, issue threats to us, and somehow you’re going to make us flinch. That is not happening.”
  Ron DeSantis (via contributor) [05:24]

• “The court could have stopped this by not having the election in the first place. They suckered the people of Virginia. It was a complete disgrace.”
  Rep. Ted Lieu [06:38]

• “The ending of the Iranian nuclear program is a different matter... most likely achieved by negotiation, but doesn’t necessarily have to be.”
  Chris Wright [09:44]

• “President Xi is a good man, smart man, loves China. I think it’s going to be an amazing trip.”
  Donald Trump [10:55]

• “Labour have been absolutely obliterated... absolutely seismic shift in terms of politics locally.”
  Bev Turner [13:15]

• “It feels like we are following in the footsteps of what America did with electing President Trump.”
  Bev Turner [17:23]

---

Important Timestamps

• [02:45] – Start of U.S. redistricting discussion
• [04:15] – Supreme Court strikes down Virginia Dem map
• [05:24] – DeSantis calls out Dem “threats” over Florida maps
• [06:38] – Ted Lieu accuses VA court of manipulation
• [07:09] – Odds still favor Democrats for House control
• [08:50] – Iran peace talks update
• [09:44] – Chris Wright on Iranian nuclear program
• [10:55] – Trump on Xi and China summit
• [11:34] – U.S. Treasury on China’s Iran oil spending
• [12:43] – Analysis of UK local elections
• [13:15] – Bev Turner explains scale of Labour defeat
• [16:23] – Discussion of Green Party, identity politics
• [17:23] – Parallels to Trump and U.S. rightward shift

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Summary Tone & Takeaways

Throughout, the hosts and guests retain a brisk, analytical, and at times wry tone, framing events as both pivotal and turbulent for the year’s upcoming elections. The U.S. segment highlights the tit-for-tat escalation in redistricting, the global section sets a high-stakes diplomatic stage, and the U.K. coverage underscores the volatility and polarization reflected on both sides of the Atlantic.

Overall: The episode paints 2026 as a year of rapid political reversals, with the right surging in both the U.S. and U.K., institutions under scrutiny, and international high-wire diplomacy in play.

Transcript

[John Bickley]

Still waiting in line.

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[John Bickley]

After the Democrats major setback in Virginia Republicans are winning the redistricting battle, but control of the House is far from secure. Where does the electoral math stand now?

[Daily Wire Contributor]

There are a lot of other options

[Tim Pierce]

around the country, even if not in Virginia.

[Daily Wire Contributor]

I have no doubt that Democrats are looking to explore all of them.

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, May 11th. This is Morning Wire.

As President Trump prepares to head to Beijing this week, Iran submits its formal response to the latest U.S. peace proposal.

[Donald Trump]

They're militarily defeated in their own minds. Maybe they don't know that, but I think they do.

[John Bickley]

And the UK Shifts hard to the right as the left wing Labour Party loses big in sweeping local elections. Will Keir Starmer be forced out and will Nigel Farage follow in Trump's footsteps?

[Tim Pierce]

I think overall what's happened is a

[Georgia Howe]

truly historic shift in British politics.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Matt Walsh]

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[John Bickley]

15% off the battle for control of Congress may come down to the fight over congressional maps. And Democrats are now facing some major setbacks.

Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham is here now with more. So, Megan, just a few weeks ago, it seemed like the congressional maps were all going in Democrats favor while what happened?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, you know, it seems very much like a Ferris Bueller life comes at you fast kind of moment for the Democrats here. So House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had made it clear for months that their strategy was to get blue states to redraw those maps to pick up more Dem seats wherever possible. Think in states like California, Maryland, but especially in Virginia. There they went all in to get a referendum passed that gerrymandered the state so that it would go from six Democrat and five Republican seats to 10 Democrat and only one Republican seat. Now, Jeffries called this an all hands on deck effort and said Democrats were willing to do, quote, whatever it takes to get that new Virginia map. And what it ultimately took was around $60 million at a time when the DNC is already pretty cash strapped. And it also took the biggest star power that the party could muster. Barack Obama spent some significant political capital to get this map passed by voting

[Daily Wire Contributor]

yes, you can push back against the

[Georgia Howe]

Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms. And we're counting on you.

[Megan Basham]

So Democrats thought they pulled it off. But as we reported on Friday, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that this new map violated the state's constitution, meaning all of that money and effort was for naught. Now, Democrats say they are going to appeal to the Supreme Court, but most legal experts say that's not going anywhere.

[John Bickley]

Well, and Republicans have also been redrawing maps, especially after the Supreme Court ruling just a few weeks ago, which of course was the National Supreme Court, not the same court in Virginia. Do those new maps stand a better chance?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, it looks like they do because it looks like they don't violate their state constitutions in the same way that Virginia's did. And after that Supreme Court ruling two weeks ago, striking down racially gerrymandered districts, President Trump personally began urging red states to look at their congressional districts for potential redraws. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was quick off the block. He immediately signed a new congressional map that could hand Republicans as Many as four additional seats there. And Democrats are now suing. But Republicans are arguing that Democrats started this escalation. So here's how DeSantis responded to Jeffries.

[Daily Wire Contributor]

You want to come down here and spend money and in Florida, roll the dice and your chances, but don't think that you can come down here, issue threats to us, and somehow you're going to make us flinch. That is not happening. And in fact, it did not happen.

[Megan Basham]

Republicans are also pushing aggressive redraws in states like Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, potentially some other Southern states. In fact, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee just signed a new map in Daily Wire's home state that will likely give Republicans another seat there.

[John Bickley]

Okay, so after all of that movement, where do things stand now with the electoral math?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, so there's a lot of different estimates coming from different political analysts, but most agree that Republicans will end up gaining seats in the double digits. Some say 11. Others put it at more like 19 seats. So potentially devastating for Democrats long term. Now, obviously, Democrats are fuming and they're trying to use this issue now to motivate their base. On CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, California Congressman Ted Lieu almost suggested that the Virginia Supreme Court deliberately lured his party into this expensive referendum.

[Ted Lieu]

The court could have stopped this by not having the election in the first place.

[John Bickley]

They suckered the people of Virginia.

[Ted Lieu]

It was a complete disgrace.

[Megan Basham]

Also over the weekend, Jeffries told Ms. Now, formerly msnbc, that these new maps have returned America to the Jim Crow

[Daily Wire Contributor]

era, to the backlash that has resulted in the elevation of Donald Trump, MAGA extremism and this behavior that we're seeing coming out of the Supreme Court of the United States to throw the American south back into the Jim Crow era.

[Megan Basham]

But I think we have to remember that while these new districts may help Republicans, they are still facing an uphill battle here to hold on to the House. Back in 2018, President Trump's approval was around 39% and they lost 40 seats in those midterms. And that's about where he's hovering now. So know not really surprising that odds makers like polymarket are still overwhelmingly favoring the Democrats to take the House.

[John Bickley]

Right.

And still several months for things to take a turn in any direction. Megan, thanks for reporting.

[Megan Basham]

Yep, my pleasure.

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[John Bickley]

has met all of its military objectives in Iran, but one final piece remains Iran's cache of highly enriched uranium.

Daily Wire contributor Tim Pierce is here with the latest on Iran and Trump's big visit to Beijing later this week. Hey Tim. So on the Iran conflict, we've seen oil prices fall and markets rally in the past week. The administration has really talked up hopes for a peace deal, but we haven't seen an agreement yet. Where do negotiations stand now?

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah, they seem to be moving, but slowly. Iranian media reported yesterday that Tehran has finally responded to a US Peace proposal. Just a few hours later, though, President Trump took to true social to call it totally unacceptable. Before that setback, Trump officials insisted that there are serious conversations taking place and that Iran's nuclear program is at the center of those. Here was Energy Secretary Chris Wright on CBS yesterday.

[Daily Wire Contributor]

Well, the military objectives that we set out to achieve, those are achieved. The ending of the Iranian nuclear program is a different matter and again most likely achieved by negotiation, but doesn't necessarily have to be achieved by negotiation.

[Tim Pierce]

So the success or failure of these negotiations seems to hinge on whether Iran is ready to give up its nuclear program and terrorism. For its part, Iran's ambassador to China said yesterday that Beijing should be the guarantor of any peace agreement that should favor Iran, since China has been an ally of Iran and is the single largest customer of Iranian oil.

[John Bickley]

Now, speaking of China, as we mentioned in the episode yesterday, actually, President Trump is traveling to Beijing this week for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. What can we expect out of that meeting?

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah, a lot of focus on that big meeting for good reason. Trump and Xi will sit down for a two day summit that starts this Thursday, according to senior U.S. officials. Talks will cover Iran, of course, including China's role in providing revenue to the regime. They'll also discuss Taiwan trade and a host of other topics that Washington and Beijing have been at odds on. Trump actually talked with journalist Cheryl Atkison in an interview that aired yesterday.

[Donald Trump]

My relationship is very good with President Xi. I don't know the other leaders, but President Xi is a good man, smart man, loves China. I think it's going to be an amazing trip.

[Tim Pierce]

Obviously not a lot in that response, except that Trump wants to at least project a good working relationship with Xi ahead of the summit.

[John Bickley]

Right.

[Tim Pierce]

But there's good reason to think that the meeting will be tense and it probably should be. There's a lot at stake over the future of the U S China relationship and it's noteworthy that ahead of the summit, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant will visit Japan and South Korea and talk trade and economic security. On Fox News, he suggested that Beijing should face tough questions over its trade relationship with Iran.

[Georgia Howe]

Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and China has been buying 90% of their energy, so they are funding the largest state sponsor of terrorism. But more importantly, the threat of attacks from Iran has closed the strait. We are reopening it. So I would urge the Chinese to join us in supporting this international operation.

[Tim Pierce]

So going back to Iran, reopening the Hormuz Strait seems like it will be a big part of the summit. On the other hand, Beijing will want to discuss tariffs and technology, especially because of the tension over the components that power AI.

[John Bickley]

No shortage of things to discuss between the world's two largest economies for sure. Tim, thanks so much for joining us.

[Tim Pierce]

Good to be on

[Ted Lieu]

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[John Bickley]

the UK has just swung hard to the right after the left wing Labour Party lost over a thousand seats in local elections with the Reform Party led by Nigel Farage racking up major wins.

Joining us now to talk about the right word swing in the UK is Bev Turner, host of GB News Late Show Live. Bev, great to see you Great to see you, John. So we just had these pretty cataclysmic elections in the UK for Keir Starmer and his left wing Labor Party. Kind of hard to overstate how much of a wipeout this really was. Let's start there. How bad were the results for Starmer?

[Bev Turner]

So just to explain it to predominantly, I guess, an American audience, this is a bit like our midterms. So these aren't our MPs at the moment here. He hasn't been voted out, but these are our local councillors. So they run the local area. So these aren't the guys sat in Westminster, but a lot of people are there because they want to be politicians. So these elections were very important and they were very important to test the temperature of the nation. And Labour have been absolutely obliterated in these elections. So they lost 1500 councillors. The reform Party, that's Nigel Farage's right wing party, they gained 1500 councillors. The Conservatives, who were in power for 14 years, they lost 500. And the Green Party, which I've explained to you before, is not necessarily about saving the world anymore, it's about saving Muslims. They gained 450 seats as well. So absolutely seismic shift in terms of politics locally. But the importance of this is that it's signposts what could happen in the general election in two years.

[John Bickley]

Yeah. So an important distinction here for our American audience is you mentioned the Conservative Party versus the Reform UK Party, both right of center but very different parties. Can you unpack that for us?

[Bev Turner]

Well, some would say the Conservative Party haven't been a Conservative Party for many years. They were in power for 14 years before the general election. That was nearly two years ago now. And they had prime ministers including Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss. But Nigel Farage, who's never been Prime Minister, looking extremely likely now that he might win in the next election, is of course the guy who was the architects of Brexit. And also he has been campaigning on the idea that a secure border should be the basics of expectations of citizens of a country. I mean, it's radical, I know. And also talking about a smaller state, less bureaucracy, lower taxes where possible. Very much a sort of Republican ticket. Quite Trumpian, actually. And just like Donald Trump as well, Nigel is very, very divisive. Now as we sit here just less than kind of three or four days after the election, Keir Starmer as the Prime Minister is clinging onto power. John, with the most desperate look in his eyes, because it's actually embarrassing. Now the country's crying out for an election, but there's a process we have to go through to get rid of him, and nobody seems to want to trigger that. There is one backbench MP that no one has ever heard of called Catherine west, who said that she's going to trigger this leadership campaign. And guess what? She's Australian. So it's taken an Aussie within the British Parliament.

[John Bickley]

We love Australians here.

[Bev Turner]

Well, I love Australians, too. I genuinely. I've never met an Australian I didn't like. But it's taken somebody with the backbone of an Australian to come out and say, guys, enough, we have to start to kick him off his perch. But he doesn't look like he wants to go anywhere at the moment.

[John Bickley]

Now, it's notable that you said, look, we had reform pick up hundreds of seats, but also the Green Party, that is very much pro Palestine, pro Muslim agenda. Like you said, a very divided country in many ways.

[Bev Turner]

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, the Greens issue is so interesting because you've got a lot of councils now which have many Muslim councillors, so they have control of huge budgets in these towns. Some of these councillors who are very pro Muslim, pro Palestine, have said some horrendously anti Semitic things in their campaigning. They now are creeping towards the House of Commons. And on the other side, you've got reform members, voters, councillors trying to stop them. Fascinating times in the uk, John, but at the moment, the people who are celebrating are the Farage fans. There are those people who want to get a sense of national identity, to work out who we are as a country, who we want to be. Can we keep our businesses open, which are closing at record rates? Can we return law and order? You know, can we put schools back in a place where the kids aren't just being taught about pronouns, et cetera, all the time? You know, it's very much. It feels like we are following in the footsteps of, of what America did with electing President Trump.

[John Bickley]

Definitely very similar signs, for sure, there. We'll see if this landslide defeat of labor ends up being a tipping point. Bev, thank you so much for talking with us. Pleasure.

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