Asger Risom
Victory in a key parliamentary race and a mayoralty signals disruption to UK’s two-party dominance.
Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party scored its first major local election victories on Thursday in England, including a mayoral seat and a dramatic win in a parliamentary by-election with the narrowest margin in British history, according to HotNews.ro.
For Reform UK, which has long been dismissed as a fringe force focused solely on immigration, the results mark a turning point. The party not only won its first mayoralty but also elected dozens of local councilors.
The most watched contest of the day—the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby—was clinched by Reform’s candidate by just six votes following a full recount. The seat had previously been held by the ruling Labour Party, which won it last year by nearly 15,000 votes.
“A Huge Night for Reform”
“This was a huge night for Reform,” Farage told reporters. “This is the Labour heartland, and their vote collapsed—with a big chunk coming to us.”
Reform UK also won the mayoral race in Greater Lincolnshire, where former Conservative minister Andrea Jenkyns—who defected to Reform after losing her seat last year—became the most powerful elected official in the party so far, representing a region of around one million people.
The victories highlight the fragmentation of Britain’s political landscape since last year’s general elections. While Prime Minister Keir Starmer led Labour to a historic parliamentary majority last summer, his government has since suffered the fastest drop in popularity of any newly elected administration.
Steep tax hikes, pension cuts, and controversy over campaign donations have fueled discontent, giving Farage an opening—one he’s capitalized on with support from his ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Labour Losses Across the Map
More than 1,600 council seats and six high-profile mayoral offices were contested across England on Thursday. Runcorn and Helsby was the only parliamentary seat in play, vacated after the Labour MP was convicted of assaulting a constituent.
Labour sources admitted Friday’s results showed voters “clearly expect the government to move faster” in delivering change.
Jenkyns delivered the party’s most visible mayoral win, pledging to “revitalize Britain” and calling for asylum seekers to be housed in tents rather than hotels. “Hats off to our great leader Nigel,” she said in her victory speech.
Reform UK narrowly missed out on mayoralties in North Tyneside, West of England, and Doncaster. In North Tyneside, Labour’s vote share fell by 23 points, and in Doncaster by 11 points compared to 2021.
Ros Jones, Labour’s winner in Doncaster, acknowledged voter backlash for spending cuts. When asked whether Starmer’s government is listening, she replied: “I’d say no, they haven’t.”
As of Friday evening, Reform was leading in total councilor seats, with around 125 declared. Founded in 2018 as the Brexit Party, the movement has recently surged in national polling, even surpassing Labour and the Conservatives in some surveys.
Reform hopes Friday’s breakthrough will help it build a robust local infrastructure and cement its status as a credible challenger to the UK’s two dominant parties ahead of the next general election, expected in 2029.