Nigel Farage makes major promise after stunning election victory | Politics | News

Nigel Farage has vowed to fix Britain after his party’s stunning victory in local elections. The Reform Britain leader said he would “turn our great country upside down” if he became Prime Minister and insisted that is what the people want.

After millions of people went to the polls, Mr. Farage, who crushed his opponents at the ballot box, set his sights on number 10. The so-called “Reform Earthquake” has left Sir Keir Starmer desperately clinging to his job tonight, as Labor suffered heavy losses in England and suffered humiliating defeats in the Scottish and Welsh elections. An enthusiastic Mr Farage promised “the best is yet to come”, telling the Express: “I am ready to start the process of turning our great country around, in front of the British people. This year’s and last year’s election results show that the British people want Reform – and we have a plan to give it to them. He added: “This is a stepping stone to the next general election.” More than 5,000 council seats were up for grabs in the biggest vote since 2024.

While Reform delivered victory in Labour’s heartlands in the North and Midlands, it defeated the Conservatives across the country, particularly in Essex, where Kemi Badenoch and some of his shadow cabinet MPs are MPs.

Mr Farage hailed a “historic shift in British politics”, claiming the results showed Reformation was on track to win the next general election.

“Forget left and right, there is no left or right anymore. It’s gone, out the window, it’s over,” he said. By 7pm his party had gained 1,218 councillors, to Labor’s loss of 1,082 and the Conservatives’ 470.

The situation was even bleaker in Wales and Scotland, where Labor faced massive defeats that left the party reeling. The Greens scored another coup by winning the mayoralty in Hackney, London’s red rose bastion.

The clamor for Sir Keir to consider his position intensified on Friday, with senior MP Graham Stringer saying the Prime Minister was being “snubbed on the doorstep”. Former Cabinet minister Louise Haigh said Sir Keir “cannot lead us to another election” unless the Government makes changes.

The head of Labour’s TSSA union called for a new leader who could avert a “disaster” for the party, while Unison said “not just the leader, but the whole approach” needed to be overhauled. Another key donor, Unite, said the party must “either change or die”. Sir Keir admitted “unnecessary mistakes” were made as he tried to approach the challenging situation with courage. But he said he “won’t go away” and plans to make announcements in the coming days to convince the public that “things will get better.”

“Days like these do not weaken my resolve to deliver the change I have promised,” Sir Keir added.

Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting and Ed Miliband, who were rumored to be vying for leadership against Sir Keir, remained tight-lipped following the attack. With dismal results, Labor was stripped of control of Redditch, Hartlepool, Tamworth, Exeter and Tameside councils; Tameside councils were in Angela Rayner’s constituency after 47 years following major swings towards Reformation.

A similar situation played out in Wigan as Mr Farage’s rebels captured all but one of the 25 available seats, 20 of which were from Labour.

The classic “Red Wall” seats at Chorley, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Salford on Merseyside have also changed significantly.

Things were little better in the South, with Labor out of control in Southampton and Wandsworth. The reform was successful in Essex, capturing 39 wards to wrest control of the county council from the Conservatives.

He also secured 11 of the 14 available councilor posts in Basildon. Ms Badenoch said she was “very proud” of her party’s election results despite losing hundreds of council seats across England. The Conservative leader, who has vowed to rebuild the party after its worst general election defeat in 2024, said he could “see these signs of renewal”.

The Conservatives have regained control of Westminster from Labor; They retained their majority in Bexley, Kensington and Chelsea and became the largest party in Wandsworth. But they lost their majority on Hampshire County Council and all 20 seats in Sutton. The reform brought down the Conservatives in Essex County Council and Suffolk County Council, Ms Badenoch’s local authority.

Ms Badenoch said: “I said we would bounce back from our worst ever defeat and we could see signs of that renewal everywhere we stood.”

He later added: “Just two years ago people were ignoring us, saying we were totally done and now we’ve won Westminster.”