‘Big swings’ to Reform UK in declared mayoral elections as party wins Lincolnshire
Labour has retained the North Tyneside, West of England and Doncaster mayoralties despite significant swings to Reform UK, which finished a close second in each contest. The insurgent party led by Nigel Farage also secured a landslide victory in Greater Lincolnshire. Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a former Conservative MP and minister, has been elected as the […]
Reform UK beats Labour in Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes
Reform UK has won the first by-election of this parliament in Runcorn and Helsby. Reform candidate Sarah Pochin secured 12,645 votes, 38.7 per cent of the total. Labour candidate Karen Shore finished in second place with 12,639 votes — giving Reform a margin of victory of just six votes. It is comfortably the smallest majority […]
What’s at stake in England’s local elections?
Voters across England are heading to the polls as Keir Starmer’s government readies for its first major interaction with the electorate since winning office in July last year. Labour is preparing for a difficult set of results — but it is Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party that is most exposed today. Of the 1,641 council seats […]
‘Not left or right’: Nigel Farage says Reform UK could be ‘good friend’ to union movement
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK could be a “good friend” to the labour movement as he hit back at criticism voiced by Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). In comments last week, Nowak called the Reform leader a “political fraud and hypocrite” who is “cosplaying” as a working-class champion. Speaking […]
How a ‘Stop Farage’ strategy could save Labour and Keir Starmer
The defining feature of the political landscape this parliament — the point that continues to shape commentary on Keir Starmer’s woes in government — is Labour’s electoral precarity. Clichés have long since entered the Westminster lexicon that reckon with Starmer’s brittle supremacy. Writing for The Times ahead of polling day in July last year, Focaldata’s […]
Kemi Badenoch opens door to Conservative deals with Reform UK at local level
Kemi Badenoch has appeared to condone the prospect of Conservative councillors forming coalitions with local counterparts in Reform UK. The Conservative leader has consistently ruled out any national deal with Reform, citing leader Nigel Farage’s pledge to “destroy” the Tories. But Badenoch has now suggested that the picture is different for Conservatives at a local […]
Ben Goldsborough: ‘If you care about British farming, don’t fall for Reform UK’s dangerous delusion’
We’ve all been there growing up — desperate to fit in with the cool kids. You laugh at their jokes, pretend to like things you don’t, and say whatever you think will get you a seat at the table. Most of us grow out of it. We learn that real respect comes from being genuine, […]
Conservative Party will fail trying to ‘out-Farage Farage’, shadow minister warns
The Conservatives will not be able to build a broad coalition of voters if it focuses on “responding to and aping Nigel Farage”, a shadow cabinet minister has said. Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scottish secretary, warned his party that “nobody can out-Farage Farage” in an interview with the Holyrood magazine. He said the Conservatives […]
Streeting: Nigel Farage’s NHS plans would ‘sell out’ working people
Wes Streeting is set to accuse Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of “selling out” working people with his NHS policies.
‘The truth is being withheld’: Heathrow closure claim points to Reform UK playbook
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, delivered a statement in the House of Commons on Monday concerning the closure of Heathrow Airport late last week, as a result of a power cut caused by a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Alexander, who had that morning toured the broadcast studios touting Labour’s pothole crackdown, reflected on […]
