Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party won a vacant parliamentary seat, a mayoralty and a host of local council posts on Friday in early results from elections leader Nigel Farage said proved it was now the real opposition.
The populist Reform, led by the veteran campaigner for Brexit, hopes Thursday’s local elections in England will mark the breakdown of a century of domination of British politics by the governing Labour Party and opposition Conservatives.
In the most closely watched contest, for the vacant parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby, Reform won by just six votes after a full recount, giving Farage’s party its fifth seat in the House of Commons. Labour had won the seat in last year’s national election with a majority of almost 15,000.
“It’s been a huge night for Reform,” Farage told reporters. “This is heartland Labour Party, their vote has collapsed and much of it has come to us.”
The Conservatives – historically one of the most successful parties of any modern democracy – were now “toast”, he said.
“You’re witnessing the end of a party that’s been around since 1832.”
Reform won the mayoral race in Greater Lincolnshire: Andrea Jenkyns, a former Conservative government minister who defected to Reform after losing her seat last year, became its most powerful elected politician yet, with responsibility for an area covering about a million people.
It was also leading all parties in the initial tally of councillors elected, though only a small number of more than 1,600 seats up for grabs on local authorities had so far been declared.
The fracturing of the political landscape has given an opening to Farage to stake his claim to represent the right of British politics, since a general election last year consigned the Conservatives to historic defeat, losing more than half of their support.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who won one of the largest parliamentary majorities in British history last summer, has since suffered the fastest decline in popularity of any newly elected government.
His government has raised taxes and cut benefits for the elderly, saying the moves were necessary to restore financial stability after 14 years of Conservative mismanagement.
Farage, long a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has been mindful of voters’ concerns over some of Trump’s positions which have hurt the right-wing vote in countries such as Canada, and has distanced himself from Trump over tariffs and Ukraine.
“Reform UK look like the real deal this morning,” said Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at polling firm Ipsos. “That said, with increased support comes scrutiny. Where they do win, they will need to show they can deliver the change their voters want.”
CONSERVATIVES SUFFER
Voters cast their ballots on Thursday for local authority seats across much of England and six high-profile mayoral elections, with results coming in throughout Friday.
Runcorn and Helsby was the only parliamentary seat up for grabs after its Labour lawmaker quit following a conviction for punching one of his constituents. It was Labour’s 49th safest seat at last year’s general election.
A Labour spokesperson said the results showed that voters “clearly expect the government to move faster” to change Britain after 14 years of Conservative rule.
The Conservatives, under the new leadership of right-leaning Kemi Badenoch, suffered expected losses having yet to recover from last year’s defeat. Co-chairman Nigel Huddleston said winning back trust in the party would “take us a long time”.
In her mayoral victory speech, Jenkyns pledged to bring an end to “soft touch Britain” and said asylum seekers should be held in tents, not in hotels as they often are in Britain.
“The rebuilding begins here … we’re going to have a Britain where we put British people first,” she said.
Labour managed to hold on despite losing votes to reform in three of the other mayoral contests: in North Tyneside, the West of England and Doncaster.
Labour’s support plunged by 23 percentage points in North Tyneside and by 11 percentage points in Doncaster compared to 2021.
Ros Jones, who won for Labour in Doncaster, said her party was being punished for its moves to reduce spending. Asked if Starmer’s government was listening, Jones said: “I would say ‘no’.”
Reform was founded as the Brexit Party in 2018 and written off in its early years as a one-issue party only interested in limiting immigration. But it has seen a surge in its support over recent months, beating Labour and the Conservatives in some opinion polls.
It hopes the results on Friday will give it a chance to build up its local infrastructure and cement its place as the best positioned party to challenge Labour and the Conservatives at the next national election, expected in 2029.
Source: Reuters