The Turquoise typhoon that is Reform UK has swept through the English council and mayoral elections – and winning by just six votes the first by-election of this Parliament in Runcorn and Helsby, hitherto in Labour’s 50 safest seats. As Labour narrowly held off the Reform challenge in closely fought mayoral contests in the West of England, North Tyneside and Doncaster, the main losers of the day were Kemi Badenoch’s Tories, who are on course to lose more than half the council seats they were defending.
The Tories are caught in a pincer movement
In the Brexit stronghold of greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a former Tory minister who has defected to Reform, is to be the area’s new Mayor, and nearby Hull is also heading into Reform’s mayoral column. In a notably bitter victory speech, Dame Andrea accused her old party of importing dirty tactics from the US in an unsuccessful attempt to smear her.
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