Nigel Farage has declared two-party politics “is finished” after Reform UK gained a new MP and took control of councils across the country.
The Reform leader addressed supporters in Durham following a day of successive victories in the local elections, which he said showed his party was now “the main opposition” to the government.
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The day began with Reform narrowly winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes, overturning the 14,700 majority secured by Labour at the general election less than 12 months ago.
The insurgent party has also taken Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire councils from the Tories and gained control of Durham, where Labour was previously the biggest party.
In a victory lap on Friday afternoon, Mr Farage mocked Sir Keir Starmer for declaring at Prime Minister’s Questions recently that Reform “will have the Conservative Party for breakfast”.
“He missed a bit, which was: we were going to have the Labour Party for lunch and we’ve done that today,” the Clacton MP said.
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He also took aim at the Tories, claiming to have “wiped them out” and that they no longer have any relevance.
“Today marks the end of two-party politics – it is finished”, he added.
The by-election in Runcorn was called after the previous MP, Mike Amesbury, resigned following his conviction for punching a constituent.
Reform candidate Sarah Pochin won with 12,645 votes, compared to the 12,639 secured by Labour’s Karen Shore, making it the closest by-election result since records began in 1945.
It comes as a major blow to Sir Keir Starmer, who is facing calls from his own MPs to change course and reverse some of the recent spending cuts he has introduced.
Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, the prime minister told Sky News he “gets it” and would “reflect” on the result.
“We’ve got to deliver that change more quickly and go further than we’ve gone so far”, he said.
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However, he defended taking “tough but right decisions” in his first 10 months, saying Labour “inherited a broken economy” from the Tories.
“Maybe other prime ministers would have walked past that, pretended it wasn’t there (…) I took the choice to make sure our economy was stable,” Sir Keir said.
More gains for Reform
As well as the Runcorn by-election, voters on Thursday took part in contests to elect more than 1,600 councillors across 23 local authorities, along with four regional mayors and two local mayors.
Mr Farage’s party was storming ahead by early Friday afternoon, gaining Durham County Council from No Overall Control (NOC) while wiping out the Tories’ majority to take control of Staffordshire County Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Lancashire.
In further good news for Reform, former Conservative minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns was elected as the first mayor in Greater Lincolnshire, winning a majority of almost 40,000 over her ex-party.
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Analysis: Reform has put the two traditional parties on notice
While the Tories suffered heavy losses, losing their majority in places including Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire and Devon, there was one success story as they gained the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoralty from Labour.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was defiant in a post on X, saying the renewal of her party has “only just begun” and she would “win back the trust of the public and the seats we’ve lost in the years to come”.
Meanwhile, Tory co-chairman Nigel Huddleston dismissed Reform’s success, telling Sky News: “They are emerging into a populist popular party, not an alternative to the Conservatives, but trying to transcend and promise everything to everybody. That is not a long-term sustainable position.”
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Why did Reform pull off their victory? Rachel Reeves’ massively unpopular winter fuel payments axe was a major vote loser. Some voters were appalled by the conduct of former Labour MP Mike Amesbury, who brutally assaulted a constituent.
Ms Pochin, in a fluent victory speech that suggested she’ll be a competent House of Commons performer, declared that the voters of the Runcorn and Helsby constituency had had enough of Tory failures and Labour lies.
Then, in a typically ebullient Sky News interview, Mr Farage said: “Britain is broken.” He also predicted more wins for his party in local government elections later on Friday.
For Labour, there will be a huge inquest into how they came so close to holding the seat and lost by just six votes. Many Labour MPs and party members will condemn Sir Keir Starmer for not bothering to visit the constituency to campaign for their candidate Karen Shore.
Mr Farage visited four times, including a lengthy stint on polling day. Say what you like about Mr Farage, and his opponents certainly do, he’s a tireless campaigner with a stamina that astounds even members of his inner circle.
His relentless tenacity has paid off handsomely. Other party leaders – with the notable exception of Sir Ed Davey – take note. Sir Keir sat on his hands and Kemi Badenoch was invisible too.
And they’ve both paid the price: humiliation.
And so, after declaring the Tories are “toast”, Mr Farage announced he was heading off for a bacon sandwich.
Last week at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said Mr Farage would “eat the Tory party for breakfast”.
But in Runcorn and Helsby – and many other parts of the UK – he’s just eaten Labour for breakfast as well.
‘First 10 months not good enough’
There was also some good news for Labour on Friday, as it held on to the North Tyneside mayoralty in the first vote of the night – albeit by just 444 votes.
Labour also saw off Reform in the West of England and Doncaster to retain both mayoralties. However, in Doncaster it was also a slim majority, with Labour’s Ros Jones clinging on by 698 votes.
Ms Jones criticised decisions to means-test the winter fuel allowance, hike employers’ national insurance contributions and squeeze welfare.
She told the BBC: “I think the results here tonight will demonstrate that they need to be listening to the man, woman and businesses on the street, and actually deliver for the people, with the people.”
Her comments have been echoed by several Labour MPs, with Brian Leishman saying that people voted for an end to austerity in the general election and Sir Keir’s first 10 months in office “haven’t been good enough or what the people want”.
“If we don’t improve people’s living standards then the next government will be an extreme right-wing one,” the Scottish MP warned on X.
Kim Johnson, in the nearby Liverpool constituency of Riverside, also said Runcorn “is a warning we can’t ignore” adding: “Voters want change – and if we don’t offer it with bold, hopeful policies that rebuild trust, the far right will.”
Ian Byrne, the MP for Liverpool’s West Derby, urged the party leadership to “truly reflect and change course”, saying the response of spokespeople to the results on Friday has been “tone deaf”.
On Friday morning, Labour chairwoman Ellie Reeves had said incumbent governments “never tend to do very well in parliamentary by-elections” and Runcorn was held in “very difficult circumstances”.
She also said that people were “impatient for change” but change “doesn’t happen overnight”.
Lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, political editor Beth Rigby, and data and economics editor Ed Conway will be live on Friday morning to report and explain the results.
