Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties.
Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty.
The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics.
Photo: AP
“For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big moment indeed,” Brexit champion Farage said of Reform’s first-ever by-election win and Starmer’s first electoral loss since he took office in July last year.
Reform also picked up dozens of council seats from Labor and the Conservatives, as the UK’s political landscape shows signs of splintering.
In the fight for six mayoralties, Reform won Greater Lincolnshire with Labor holding three. Labor only narrowly held the North Tyneside mayoralty after a 26 percent swing to Reform.
New Greater Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns said the “fightback to save the heart and soul of our great country has now begun.”
“Now that Reform is in a place of power, we can help start rebuilding Britain. Inch by inch,” she said.
Just 1,641 seats across 23 local authorities were up for grabs — only a fraction of England’s 17,000 councilors — but early results suggested Reform was transferring leads in national polls into tangible results at the ballot box.
“The big question we wanted to know after these results was are the polls right in suggesting that Reform now pose a significant challenge to both the Conservatives and the Labor Party? The answer to that question so far is quite clearly yes,” political scientist John Curtice said.
The centrist Liberal Democrats and left-wing Greens also expected to make gains, as surveys show Britons are increasingly disillusioned with the two main parties amid anaemic economic growth, high levels of irregular immigration and flagging public services.
Reform, which has vowed to “stop the boats” of irregular migrants crossing the English Channel, is hoping that winning mayoralties and gaining hundreds of councilors would help it build its grassroots activism before the next general election — likely in 2029.
British politics have been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories since the early 20th century.
However, “British politics appears to be fragmenting,” Curtice wrote in the Telegraph this week.
Thursday’s polls were “likely be the first in which as many as five parties are serious players,” he said.
Labor won a huge parliamentary majority in July last year, with just 33.7 percent of the vote, the lowest share for any party winning a general election since World War II.
The Conservatives won just 24 percent of the vote, securing only 121 seats in the 650-seat parliament, as the party endured its worst election defeat.
Reform picked up five seats, an unprecedented haul for a hard-right party, although one of those now sits as an independent. After Friday’s win, their tally now stands at five again.
The Liberal Democrats in July won 61 more members of parliament (MP) than at the previous election and the Greens quadrupled their representation to four.
Labor won Runcorn with 53 percent of the vote last year, meaning it was one of its safest seats, while Reform got just 18 percent.
Election officials yesterday said Reform’s MP candidate Sarah Pochin secured 12,645 votes to 12,639 for Labor’s Karen Shore. Turnout was 46 percent.
Labor spokesperson said by-elections are “always difficult for the party in government” and the events surrounding the Runcorn vote made it “even harder.”
On Tuesday, Reform topped a YouGov poll of voting intentions in the UK with 26 percent, three points ahead of Labor and six up on the Conservatives.
Labor has endured criticism over welfare cuts and tax rises that it claims is necessary to stabilize the economy.
As Labor edges rightwards it is facing a growing challenge from the Greens on the left.
Under threat from Reform on the right, the Tories are also being squeezed on the left by the Liberal Democrats, the traditional third party, which was eyeing gains in the wealthy south.
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