Britain’s two main parties suffered significant losses in municipal and mayoral votes as Reform U.K., a right-wing populist party, surged ahead.
Britain’s two main parties suffered significant losses in municipal and mayoral votes as Reform U.K., a right-wing populist party, surged ahead. Britain’s two main parties suffered significant losses in municipal and mayoral votes as Reform U.K., a right-wing populist party, surged ahead.
Britain’s two main parties suffered significant losses in municipal and mayoral votes as Reform U.K., a right-wing populist party, surged ahead.
Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. party has emerged as the biggest winner of the first major polls since Labour swept into government last summer.
Voters have been selecting councilors for about 1,600 municipal seats in 23 areas, as well as six regional mayors.
Here are four takeaways from a night that saw Britain’s two major political parties suffer significant losses.
Reform U.K. is a serious force in British politics.
The right-wing populist party headed by Mr. Farage won a special election in Runcorn and Helsby, in northwestern England, meaning it now has five lawmakers in Parliament. The party also won two mayoralties: in Greater Lincolnshire, and in Hull and East Yorkshire. It also gained control of several local authorities and won hundreds of municipal seats.
The party was initially called the Brexit Party but rebranded itself after Britain formally withdrew from the European Union.
Results on Friday indicated that Reform’s efforts to shed its image as a single-issue party were bearing fruit. Brexit is now rarely discussed by its politicians, who have been focusing on a hard line on immigration.