There’s been a teal tsunami. Of the 23 councils up for election, Reform took 10 while the Tories lost 15. Reform also gained an MP in Runcorn and two mayoralties, in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire.
Reform won the Runcorn by-election by just six votes after a recount requested by Labour. It’s the first by-election of this parliament and came about after Mike Amesbury received a suspended prison sentence for punching a man outside a pub. Reform’s candidate, Sarah Pochin, is the new MP – she won 12,645 votes compared with Labour’s 12,639.
Here’s the national picture for councils:
One Labour campaigner says what she heard on the doorstep in Runcorn ‘was all PIP and winter fuel payments’. Did Labour’s benefit cuts swing it for Reform? Ross Clark has
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