Farage hails Reform as ‘main opposition’ after gaining MP and councils

Reform UK has won Staffordshire and Lincolnshire councils from the Conservatives and taken control of Durham County Council.

Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin, right, and party leader Nigel Farage — Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin and party leader Nigel Farage talk to the media after the party won the seat in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election (Peter Byrne/PA)

Nigel Farage has hailed Reform UK as “the main opposition party” after his party took control of councils from the Tories and Labour and gained an MP in Runcorn and Helsby.

Reform UK has won Staffordshire and Lincolnshire councils from the Conservatives and taken control of Durham County Council, where Labour was previously the biggest party.

Clacton MP Mr Farage’s party has won hundreds of council seats across the country as votes continue to be counted.

The Reform leader said his party “dug very deep into the Labour vote” in the Cheshire constituency and “dug very deep into the Conservative vote” in other parts of England.

In one of the closest parliamentary contests ever, Sarah Pochin became the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, the seat that Labour won with a majority of more than 14,000 last year, by just six votes.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns pushing away a journalist’s microphone — Reform UK’s Dame Andrea Jenkyns puts her hand on a journalist’s microphone while speaking to the media (Joe Giddens/PA)

Meanwhile, former Conservative minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns was elected for Reform UK as the first Greater Lincolnshire mayor with a majority of almost 40,000 over her former party.

The party has also taken control of Staffordshire County Council and took 21 seats in Northumberland, which now remains under no overall control.

Mr Farage told the PA news agency: “It’s been a big night for us.

“We’ve dug very deep into the Labour vote and, in other parts of England, we’ve dug deep into the Conservative vote, and we are now, after tonight there’s no question, in most of the country, we are now the main opposition party to this Government.”

Ms Pochin’s victory takes Reform’s number of seats in the Commons up to five. Five MPs were elected for the party last year, but the whip has since been suspended from Rupert Lowe.

Conservative co-chairman Nigel Huddleston suggested it is not “credible” for Mr Farage to suggest Reform could be the opposition.

Sarah Pochin and Nigel Farage talking to the media after Reform UK’s six-vote win over Labour in the by-election (Peter Byrne/PA)

Mr Huddleston told BBC Breakfast: “He can’t even manage five MPs previously. We’re (on) 121.

“In local government, we’ll still have over 4,000 seats most likely after this election.

“I think that is just not a credible comment from Mr Farage.”

Kemi Badenoch had previously warned the local elections would be tough for the Conservatives, as the last time most of the seats up for grabs were contested was in spring 2021 when Boris Johnson’s government was boosted by the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

Asked if he had a message for Mrs Badenoch, Mr Farage said: “We want you to stay on as leader. I’ll put some money if you’d like to keep you there.

“She’s got an impossible job. The Conservative Party is split.”

Polling expert Sir John Curtice described Reform as being “in business”.

The Strathclyde University professor told BBC Breakfast: “The big question we were looking to these elections to answer was, the message of the opinion polls is that Reform are now posing a big threat to both Conservative and Labour, neck and neck with them according to the polls.

“Is that really true? And I think we now already know that the answer to that question is yes.

“Ukip never managed to win a parliamentary by-election afresh in the way that Reform have managed to do in Runcorn.”

Sir John said Reform had put in “some quite remarkable performances” as the more evenly spread vote was not a disadvantage to the party at local level.

He added: “Reform are in business. They are a major challenge.”