LONDON (AP) 鈥 The hard-right party Reform UK led by Nigel Farage snatched a seat in Parliament from the governing Labour Party and made big gains in local elections that Farage hailed Friday as a turning point in British politics.
Reform's Sarah Pochin was declared winner of the seat of Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by six votes after a recount, defeating Labour candidate Karen Shore by the narrowest of margins.
It was a significant defeat for Labour, which easily won the district in last year's national election. The special election was held because Labour lawmaker Mike Amesbury was forced to quit after he was convicted of in a drunken rage.
Farage said 鈥渋t鈥檚 a very, very big moment indeed鈥 that shows Reform can win against both Labour and the right-of-center opposition Conservative Party.
鈥淲e are not a protest party, even though there is much to protest about," Farage told reporters at the election count. "We鈥檝e dealt with the Tories. We鈥檙e now coming for the Labour Party."
The local elections held Thursday in many areas of England were a test of feeling about center-left Labour government, 10 months after it was .
The Runcorn victory gives Reform, which got about 14% of the vote in , five of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, compared to 403 for Labour and 121 for the Conservatives.
But Reform appears to have momentum. 春色直播 polls now suggest its support equals or surpasses that of Labour and the Conservatives, and it hopes to displace the Conservatives as the country鈥檚 main party on the right before the next national election, due by 2029.
As results came in Friday, Reform won hundreds of municipal seats in the elections for six mayoralties and the control of 23 local councils.
Reform won control of several county-level local authorities, including Staffordshire and Lincolnshire in central England 鈥 both previous Conservative strongholds 鈥 and Durham in the north.
Reform candidate Andrea Jenkyns, a former Conservative lawmaker, won the newly created mayoralty of the Greater Lincolnshire region of east-central England. Labour retained three other mayoralties and the Conservatives won one.
The victories will bring pressure for Reform to deliver on transport, garbage collection, potholes and all the other unglamorous demands of everyday politics.
A majority of the local seats being contested were held by the Conservatives, whose leader could face a party revolt. Badenoch posted on X that she was 鈥渄etermined to win back the trust of the public and the seats we鈥檝e lost.鈥
Farage鈥檚 party is also targeting working-class voters who once backed Labour. Starmer's popularity has plunged as his government struggles to kick-start a The government has raised the minimum wage, strengthened workers' rights and pumped money into the state-funded health system 鈥 but also hiked employer' taxes and .
Starmer said he understood why many voters are discontented.
鈥淢y response is: We get it,鈥 he said. "I am determined that we will go further and faster on the change that people want to see.鈥
The results give only a partial snapshot of voter sentiment. Many areas, including London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, did not hold elections. Turnout for local polls is typically much lower than in a national election.
And Reform is not the only story. The centrist made gains by winning more affluent, socially liberal voters away from the Conservatives.
Reform UK is the latest in a series of parties led by Farage, a veteran hard-right politician who was crucial in taking Britain out of the through a 2016 referendum. A charismatic campaigner, he is a divisive figure who has said many migrants come to the U.K. from cultures 鈥渁lien to ours.鈥
Reform blends Farage鈥檚 long-standing political themes 鈥 strong borders, curbing immigration 鈥 with policies reminiscent of administration. During the campaign Farage said he plans 鈥渁 DOGE for every county鈥 in England, inspired by Elon Musk鈥檚 controversial .
University of Strathclyde political scientist John Curtice said the results showed that politics in Britain, long dominated by the two big parties, has fragmented. 鈥淩eform are now posing a big threat to both Conservative and Labour," he said.
鈥淭hey are a major challenge,鈥 he told the BBC.
