By Andrew MacAskill and Phil Noble
WIDNES, England (Reuters) -Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party won a vacant parliamentary seat, a mayoralty and control of three councils on Friday in early results from elections that its 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.”
Andrea Jenkyns, a former Conservative minister who defected to Reform after losing her seat last year, became mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, which covers about a million people, making her the party’s most powerful elected politician yet.
Reform also took control of Staffordshire county council, winning 32 seats, and Durham county council.
It was leading all parties in the initial tally of councillors elected, with nearly half of the more than 1,600 seats up for grabs on local authorities declared.
Farage, long a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has staked his anti-immigration party’s claim to represent the right of British politics since the Conservatives lost more than half of their support in a general election last year.
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.
Starmer said the results were “disappointing” but said he and his party colleagues “get it”, adding: “I’m determined we will go further and faster on the change people want to see.”
Farage has distanced himself from Trump over tariffs and Ukraine, mindful of voters’ concerns over some of Trump’s positions which have hurt the right-wing vote in countries such as Canada. While still focused on immigration, Reform has begun offering solutions to Britain’s stubborn problems such as an ailing health service and poor economic growth.
“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 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 included after its Labour lawmaker quit following a conviction for punching one of his constituents.
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.
For the Conservatives, under the new leadership of right-leaning Kemi Badenoch, losses were expected after last year’s defeat. Co-chairman Nigel Huddleston said winning back trust in the party would “take us a long time”.
Reform, founded as the Brexit Party in 2018, was initially written off as a narrow anti-immigration party. But it has seen a surge in its support over recent months.
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 party hopes the results will help make it the best positioned party to challenge Labour and the Conservatives at the next national election, expected in 2029.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; additional reporting by William James, Catarina Demony and Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Kate Holton and Philippa Fletcher)
