As Labour faces a crushing defeat in this morning’s local election results, one party is toasting sweeping victories right across the country.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has unseated hundreds of Labour councillors nationwide, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer conceding he takes “responsibility” for the devastating blow to his party.
Farage, meanwhile, says he is “thrilled and delighted” by his party’s performance. Speaking in Havering after Reform UK seized control of the east London council, he declared that such victories “cannot continue to be a fluke or a protest vote”.
“I can honestly say you are witnessing an historic shift in British politics. This (Reform UK) is now the most national of all parties”, he said, before insisting the “best is yet to come” for his party.
Farage went on to claim that both Labour and the Conservatives were being “wiped out” in their traditional strongholds, and said Reform would bring a fresh blend of new thinking and experience. “There are no more left-right”, he told reporters, boasting that Reform is “scoring stunning percentages in traditional old Labour areas”, reports Lancs Live.
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“It’s a big, big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way.”
He continued: “We all know that finances of local councils all over the country are severely stretched. We are not promising miracles but we are promising good value for money.”
Starmer, meanwhile, has pledged to remain in office, though admitted it had been a “tough” night for Labour. Sir Keir braced himself for further significant defeats as vote counting pressed on throughout Friday, spanning English local elections alongside contests for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.
In Wales, Labour looks set to lose the national vote for the first time in over a century, while the SNP appears on course to retain its position as the largest party in Scotland after 19 years at the helm.
Speaking at Kingsdown Methodist Church in Ealing, west London, on Friday morning, Sir Keir said: “The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.
“We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.
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“And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”
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