“For the movement, for the party, it is a very, very large moment,” reacted Nigel Farage, the Brexit champion, who campaigned on the fight against irregular immigration. This victory “proves that we are now the opposition party to the Labor government,” he wrote on X. It confirms the rise of Reform UK and the fragmentation of the political landscape in the United Kingdom. After this victory in the constituency of Runcorn and Helsby, Reform UK holds five deputies in the House of Commons in Westminster, which has a total of 650 seats.
Six votes apart. Reform UK’s candidate, Sarah Pochin, won with an advance of only six votes on Labor candidate Karen Shore. But the plowing had won the district with 53 % of the votes in July, far ahead of Reform at 18 %. Keir Starmer had however admitted that he would now be “difficult” for his party to win. Several local elections were held on Thursday in England. The results will fall throughout the day on Friday.
In addition to the seat of deputies in the Runcorn region, a total of 1,641 seats within local authorities are to be filled – a small part of the 17,000 seats of local advisers throughout England – as well as six seats of mayors. These elections are the first ballot in England since the coming to power of Labor, Labor Party (center-left) of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in July. According to the first results, in addition to the partial legislative, Reform has won dozens of seats of local advisers as well as mayor. Labor have won three municipal elections.
Test. These local elections are also a test for the leader of the Tories Kemi Badenoch, who took the reins at the end of last year of a conservative training in pain after his debacle of the legislative elections. According to opinion investigations, the British express an increasing disillusionment with regard to the two major parties, concerned about the lack of results on economic growth, the figures for illegal immigration or public services in difficulty.
Under the electoral system in a turn that promotes major parties, Labor won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in July, but with only 33.7 % of the vote. Or the lowest proportion for a party winning legislative elections since the Second World War. The conservatives, they obtained 24 % of the votes and 121 seats of the 650 in Parliament, its worst electoral defeat of all time.
Historical result. Reform UK, the party of Nigel Farage, obtained five seats (then raised to 4 with the dismissal of a Reform deputy), an unprecedented result for an extreme right party in the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrats won 61 deputies in relation to the previous election, and the Greens went from one to four elected officials.
The Labor Party is experiencing a difficult return to power, after 14 years in opposition. Keir Starmer, whose popularity has plunged into polls, failed to straighten the economy and his government was strongly criticized for having suppressed certain social assistance. The partial legislative of Runcorn was launched by the resignation of Labor deputy Mike Amesbury, sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for hitting a man during a night altercation. The next legislative elections should take place in 2029.
Justine GERARDY
© Agence France-Presse
