Nigel Farage has hailed Reform UK’s success in Thursday’s local elections as “unprecedented,” declaring the results mark the collapse of the traditional two-party dominance in British politics.
The right-wing party secured control of 10 local councils, won two mayoral contests, and added a fifth MP in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. Many of these victories came at the expense of both Labour and the Conservatives, prompting soul-searching in both major parties.
“In post-war Britain, no one has ever beaten both Labour and the Tories in a local election before,” Farage said on Saturday, celebrating the outcome as a watershed moment for his party.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer admitted that voters were yet to feel the impact of Labour’s policies. Writing in The Times, he said, “Now is the time to crank up the pace on giving people the country they are crying out for.” However, internal dissent within Labour has emerged. MP Rachael Maskell criticised the government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners, calling for a more equitable redistribution of wealth.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch expressed regret over her party’s significant losses, which included a string of council seats and failure to fend off challenges from both Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats. Writing in The Telegraph, Badenoch apologised to ousted councillors and acknowledged the toll of 14 years in power and last year’s punishing general election.
“This is a moment of reckoning,” she said, pledging to restore the Conservatives as a “credible alternative.”
The Liberal Democrats also emerged as a major force in the elections, gaining 163 seats and control of three councils, including Shropshire, Oxfordshire, and Cambridgeshire. Party leader Sir Ed Davey said the Lib Dems were now the “party of Middle England.”
The Green Party made more modest gains, winning 44 new seats but falling short in the West of England mayoral race. Green peer Baroness Jenny Jones said the results signaled the rise of “five-party politics” and a shift away from binary choices.
Former Conservative council leader Roger Gough acknowledged the scale of the party’s defeat and the challenge ahead. “We are still under the shadow of our time in government,” he said.
Despite Reform UK’s surge, Conservative shadow minister Richard Fuller ruled out a pact with Farage’s party, stating, “Farage has been very clear that he wants to destroy the Conservative Party.”
With voter loyalties shifting and traditional party strongholds crumbling, the UK’s political landscape appears to be entering a new era of fragmentation and fierce competition.
