Reform UK Party Leader Nigel Farage At Local Election Campaign Launch (Image: Getty)
All eyes will be on Reform UK in May’s local elections according to experts, who predicted the insurgent party could score dramatic upset victories. Think tank the Local Government Information Unit said Nigel Farage’s party “has a lot to gain” as it named five key contests to watch, with Reform the challengers in four of them. Parties in power at Westminster traditionally do badly in local elections but Sir Keir Starmer is fortunate this year because many of the big city unitary authorities where Labour are strong are not going to the polls on May 1.
It means he cannot suffer huge losses and attention will focus instead on which of the two right-wing parties, Reform or the Conservatives, are seen to have done well, according to the think tank. Key battlegrounds include Lincolnshire, where Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkins, who has defected to Reform and is standing to become a regional mayor, could be the winner.
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Reform could also make gains in Durham and stop Labour taking overall control of the country council. The think tank said Labour is hoping to make gains in the county “although, in second place in many of those same seats was Reform, so worth watching their performance too to see if they manage to break through.”
Conservatives could suffer losses in Kent, according to the think tank. It said: “Conservatives are going in with a lot to lose. Their recent council losses in many districts in the area suggest that both the Liberal Democrats and Reform could pick up seats here.”
And recent polling showing Reform could take control of Doncaster council, which Labour currently controls, “may be giving Labour reason to be concerned”.
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The fifth key battleground is in Gloucestershire, where Conservatives are the largest party but Greens and Liberal Democrats could make gains, the think tank said.
Jonathan Carr-West, Local Government Information Unit Chief Executive, said a key issue would be “the relative performance of the Conservatives and Reform as the major parties of the right”. But he also highlighted “whether we see the continuing upward trajectory of the Liberal Democrats and Greens who will be looking to capitalise from the apparent weaknesses of Labour and the Conservatives in national polling.”
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Conservatives are campaigning under the slogan Lower Taxes, Better Services, and say they have a proven track record of keeping bills down and providing better local services. Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The Conservatives are the only party that stands up for families, for rural communities, and for local businesses. Labour pander to the unions, the Lib Dems waste your taxes, and Reform have no experience running anything.”
Reform is pledging to cut wasteful spending by local councils, with party leader Nigel Farage highlighting data showing more than 3,000 council staff in Britain are earning over ￡100,000 a year.
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Mr Farage claimed: “As far as May 1st is concerned, we have massive opportunities here to replace the Conservative Party as the party of opposition to the Labour government.”
Labour chair Ellie Reeves said: “A vote for any Party other than Labour on 1 May risks re-opening the door to more of the chaos the Tories left behind.”
Elections will be held for 23 councils plus the Isles of Scilly authority. Regional mayors will be elected in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire. In addition, votes for mayors covering a single council take place in North Tyneside and Doncaster.