Nigel Farage has declared Reform UK the main opposition party after a series of electoral victories, including a byelection win, a mayoralty, and about two dozen council seats. Speaking in Runcorn, where his party won with a majority of just six votes, Farage said the results showed Reform had overtaken the Conservatives as the primary challenger to Labour.
Reform secured the Runcorn and Helsby byelection with a 17-point swing from Labour, overturning a majority of over 14,000. The Conservative vote share dropped from 16% at last year's general election to 7%, narrowly ahead of the Greens. Meanwhile, former Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty with a majority of 44,000 votes, praising Farage as a future prime minister.
By early Friday afternoon, Reform had won 23 council seats, while Labour lost 10 and the Conservatives seven. The party also took control of Staffordshire council from the Tories. Labour held onto mayoralties in Doncaster, North Tyneside, and the West of England, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged voter disillusionment, vowing to 'go further and faster' on change.
Polling expert John Curtice noted that for the first time, a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won more votes and council seats in an interim election. The Liberal Democrats and Greens also predicted gains, with support increasingly fragmented among five main UK parties.
Reform focused on immigration and cuts to winter fuel payments in its campaign, issues that resonated with voters. Labour MPs warned that benefit cuts and the winter fuel allowance reduction had damaged the party's standing, with Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson calling the Runcorn result 'a warning we can't ignore.'
