Farage's Reform UK Party Support Surges, Wins Closest Ever By-election

LONDON (Reuters) - Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party made early gains in local English election results on Friday 2 May 2025 and dramatically won a parliamentary by-election by the smallest ever margin in the first major electoral test since last year's general election.

The populist Reform, led by the Brexit campaigner Farage, hopes a strong performance in English local elections to be announced through Friday will mark the start of the breakdown of Britain's century-old two-party political system, dominated by the governing Labour Party and opposition Conservatives.

In the most closely watched contest for the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby, Reform won by just six votes after a full recount was ordered.

Labour had won the seat in last summer's national election with a majority of almost 15,000 votes.

"It's been a huge night for Reform," Farage told reporters. "This is heartland Labour Party, their vote has collapsed and much of it has come to us."

The party also won the mayoral race in Greater Lincolnshire, with a former Conservative minister who defected to Reform after losing her seat last year, Andrea Jenkyns, becoming its most powerful elected politician yet with responsibility for an area covering about a million people.

The victories underline the way Britain's political landscape has fractured since the general election. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer won one of the largest parliamentary majorities in British history last summer but has suffered the fastest decline in popularity of any newly elected government.

Starmer, a former lawyer before turning to politics, has seen a steep fall in support for his government after it raised taxes, cut benefits for the elderly, and got into a row over the use of donations, giving an opening to Farage, who is a friend of US President Donald Trump.

Voters cast their ballots on Thursday for more than 1,600 seats on local authorities across England and six high-profile mayoral elections.

Runcorn and Helsby was the only parliamentary seat up for grabs after the Labour lawmaker quit following his conviction for punching one of his constituents. It was Labour's 49th safest seat at last year's general election.

A Labour spokesperson said the results on Friday showed that voters "clearly expect the government to move faster" to change Britain.

MAYORAL CONTESTS

In the mayoral contests, Jenkyns was the most high profile winner. She pledged in her victory speech to bring an end to "soft touch Britain" and said asylum seekers should be held in tents, not hotels. "I take my hat off to our great leader Nigel," she said.

Reform also came close to toppling Labour in three other mayoral contests in North Tyneside, the West of England, and Doncaster.

Labour's support in North Tyneside plunged 23 percentage points and by eleven percentage points in Doncaster compared to 2021.

Ros Jones, who won in Doncaster, said her Labour party was being punished for the moves it had made to reduce spending.

Asked if Starmer's government was listening, Jones said: "I would say no, they haven't."

Reform, which recently overtook Labour and the Conservatives in some national opinion polls, was leading in the total number of councillors elected with about 125 council seats declared.

Founded as the Brexit Party in 2018 and written off in its early years as a one-issue party only interested in immigration, Reform has seen a surge in its support over recent months.

The party hopes the results on Friday will give it a chance to build up its local infrastructure and cement its place as the best positioned party to challenge Labour and the Conservatives at the next national election expected in 2029.