UK

Reform UK burst into parliament at the general election, winning five seats and promising to hold Labour’s feet to the fire. In doing so, Nigel Farage’s party won the luxury of a platform to shout from without the responsibility of being in power. But on Friday morning, Reform won its first regional mayor in Andrea Jenkyns. With results still coming in, the insurgent right-wing party could gain control of several English councils, too. Like a dog chasing a squirrel and finally catching up, Reform now has to decide what it will actually do with its newfound authority. The only previous example of a Farage-led party taking power offers an unappealing blueprint: a Ukip triumph on Thanet District Council in Kent in 2015 ended in collapse after years of infighting over failures to deliver on election promises. Will Reform suffer the same fate, or is the party better placed to succeed under an older, wiser Mr Farage? Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party could win 12 seats at Holyrood, analysis based on the poll indicated. (Jacob King/PA)The Independent looks at what Reform has promised in the local elections, and whether it can deliver. British DOGEReform’s major promise to voters in the local elections has been to follow Donald Trump’s footsteps and slash government spending. It has promised a British DOGE (Department for Government Efficiency) in each local authority it gains control of. Ms Jenkyns will likely be responsible for rolling out the first as mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. The party hopes it will discover “wasteful” spending on diversity and inclusivity programmes, allowing it to slash spending and cut local taxes in turn. The independent Penn Wharton Budget Model, which tracks government spending in the US, said DOGE has failed to have a meaningful impact on government spending in the US, and that spending could in fact have increased since Mr Trump’s election. The department initially promised $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) in savings, and has so far found just $160 billion (£120 billion) of cuts – with increases in spending elsewhere leading to the overall rise. War on woke and work from homeMr Farage has also lashed out at councils including Hertfordshire County Council over “woke” issues and staff working from home. He has vowed staff working for Reform-controlled councils will be ordered back to their offices. He also claimed a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill had “a warning note about colonialism, slavery and racism”, a claim denied by the council. He also attacked the “woke virtue signalling spending” of Wiltshire Council during a visit to Salisbury in the run up to polls opening. Rejecting asylum seekersOne of the biggest issues Reform campaigned on is asylum seekers being housed in hotels across the UK. Mr Farage repeatedly pointed during the by-election campaign to the number of migrants living in Runcorn who had arrived in Britain after crossing the English Channel. It has vowed that councillors will campaign against the use of hotels in local authorities they are elected to, with Reform-controlled councils even blocking the use of hotels in areas where they can. Ms Jenkyns sparked anger immediately after her election, suggesting Reform would house asylum seekers in tents rather than hotels. She said if tents are “good enough” for migrants in camps in France, those same migrants should be happy living in tents when they arrive in Britain. How effective will it be? Reform’s Labour and Tory opponents hope power proves a curse for Mr Farage’s party. The areas it controls will face fierce scrutiny in the run up to the next general election, with every fallout and failure sure to make headlines. If the party does deliver, it will prove its positioning as the real opposition to Labour is more than just bluster. But if it fails to live up to its promises, Reform’s polling high might just come crashing down. More

Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin has clinched victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes.She was the favourite to win since being unveiled by Nigel Farage in March, following Labour MP Mike Amesbury’s conviction for punching a constituent. Ms Pochin will become Reform’s fifth MP and its first female representative in parliament when the Commons returns on Tuesday. But who is the 55-year-old new MP and what is she likely to do as a Reform MP? Sarah Pochin won Runcorn by six votes More

The overnight results from Thursday’s elections have sent shockwaves through Britain’s political landscape, raising serious questions about the future of the country’s traditional two-party dominance.Reform UK, long seen as a fringe challenger, won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes, overturning a massive 35-point Labour majority. Nigel Farage’s party also claimed its first mayoralty in Greater Lincolnshire. Early local election results suggest Reform is on track for significant gains, particularly in areas that voted heavily for Brexit.Both Conservatives and Labour are feeling the strain. The Tories have suffered heavy losses, while Labour’s wins have come on sharply reduced vote shares. Meanwhile, smaller parties like the Greens and Liberal Democrats have made modest progress, though they still face challenges breaking through at scale.Polling expert Sir John Curtice says the results underline a long-term shift in voter loyalties, as frustration with both main parties fuels growing support for alternatives like Reform and others. For the first time in decades, he argues, no single party – or even pair of parties – appears to dominate the political scene.As one Independent reader observed: “This election is a double-edged sword. People are turning back to the same promise-makers who failed them – yet it might finally break our two-party system.”So we’re asking: is the era of two-party dominance over?What do you think? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts in the comments below. More

Nigel Farage has “broken new ground” by winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, Britain’s top pollster has declared. Polling guru professor Sir John Curtice said the victory is a “very substantial success” for Reform UK which proves the party is a major threat to Labour and the Conservatives. Sir John said Mr Farage never won a by-election with Ukip where his MP was not the incumbent, with its two by-election wins coming after sitting MPs defected from the Conservatives. “So, to that extent, we have now broken new ground in terms of parliamentary by-elections,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Sir John added: “We were looking to these elections to answer whether the message of the opinion polls is correct that Reform poses a significant threat to the traditional dominance of the Conservatives and Labour of our electoral politics. Reform UK won by just six votes in Runcorn More

Reform UK has won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes – an extremely narrow victory that will serve as a major boost to Nigel Farage’s party. The party claimed victory in the early hours of Friday morning with 12,645 votes, after the contest sat on a knife edge for hours as a full recount was called, with just a few votes sitting between Reform and Labour. Sir Keir Starmer’s party had held the area for more than 40 years and the seat was won by Labour’s Mike Amesbury at the 2024 general election with a sizeable majority of almost 15,000 votes. Amesbury resigned in February after he was convicted of assault for punching a constituent, triggering Thursday’s by-election.The vote was the first major test for both Reform and Sir Keir’s government after last year’s historic general election victory, nine months into a Labour government where Mr Farage’s party had been leading in the polls.Sarah Pochin wins in Runcorn More

Voters await the result of the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in CheshireResults have started coming in from the local elections and by-election, with politicians and councillors from Labour, the Tories and Reform UK watching anxiously in the first major test of opinion for Sir Keir Starmer’s government.Labour have held onto North Tyneside, one of six mayoral contests, but only by the slimmest of margins ahead of Reform – just 444 votes.The result also appears to be very close in the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire, called when former Labour MP Mike Amesbury was convicted of assault.In a highly fragmented party system, the votes will show whether Nigel Farage and Reform have maintained their high poll ratings since last summer.The Conservatives, defending 954 seats, are bracing themselves for heavy losses. Tory grandees have warned their party against doing deals with Reform. Early results showed Reform making inroads at the expense of Labour in Northumberland, the only council counting in full overnight.A total of 1,641 council seats are up for grabs in 23 local authorities across England.Reform’s Andrea Jenkyns ahead after first declaration in North LincolnshireReform UK candidate Dame Andrea Jenkyns was ahead after the first declaration in the contest to become the first North Lincolnshire mayor.Boston Borough Council, one of the nine authorities that make up the mayoral area, said Dame Andrea had 7,285 votes, ahead of Conservatives (2,695), Lincolnshire Independents (1,193), Labour (897), Green (774) and Liberal Democrat (513).Reform UK’s Greater Lincolnshire mayoral candidate Dame Andrea Jenkyns during the count at Grimsby Town Hall, Lincolnshire More

Rachel Reeves’s plans to slash billions of pounds in disability payments will hit red wall communities hardest, according to new research. The move poses a risk to Labour, which won back many of its traditional heartland seats at last year’s general election, having lost them to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2019.The North East and North West of England are set to be the hardest hit. All of the top 10 most-impacted constituencies are located in the two regions and all are in the red wall, including Bootle, Birkenhead and Hartlepool, a report from the think tank Health Equity North found.Rachel Reeves’s welfare cuts will have an impact at the polling booth More

Polls have closed in the local elections in various parts of England and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election with all the main parties now busily trying to manage expectations in case they fall below what is predicted for them.However, the results of the county council and mayoral elections as well as the by-election will give an indication of how well or badly the parties are doing in reality. Many parts of the country did not have a vote but real elections are in some ways a much better indicator of a party’s political strength than the polls.Each party has a minimum expectation or floor and higher targets as a ceiling for what is likely to unfurl as votes are counted and results declared over the next 24 hours.Renowned pollster Lord Robert Hayward, who has published his expected range of results, said: “If parties go above the high end then they are doing very well indeed but if they go below the minimum expectation then it is very bad.“You have to consider the full range of elections including councils, mayoralties and the by-election in judging how successful or disastrous the election has been for a party. Also councils controlled after the results are declared and biggest parties in councils.“There are clearly minimum expectations and reasonable high aims for each party.”A black Labrador outside a polling station as final preparations are made for the 2025 local elections (Jacob King/PA Wire) More