Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has won another council by-election (Image: Getty)

Reform are celebrating another election victory after winning a council-by election. The party took a seat previously held by Labour in the Shelley ward of Ongar Town Council, in the Epping Forest District in Essex. The Reform candidate received 352 votes while Labour’s candidate received 100 votes.

Reform MP James Murdock said: “78% of the votes go to Reform in latest Essex by-election. Gain from Labour. Well done team.” It follows local elections earlier this year in which Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made sweeping gains, as well as winning the Parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, previously a safe Labour seat. Reform picked up 10 councils and more than 600 council seats, and also won two mayoral elections.

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On Thursday, councillors heard from the new leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran, at their annual general meeting at County Hall in Maidstone, Kent.

Ms Kemkaran, Kent’s Reform leader, told the chamber her new administration had little time for “special interest groups” or the flags that represent them.

Her words were met with raucous applause and table thumping from the Reform benches, likened to a “political rally” by the council’s opposition leader, Liberal Democrat Antony Hook.

“We are here to unite not divide and that’s why we don’t have much time for special interest groups and flags that represent special interest groups,” added Ms Kemkaran.

Opposition leader Mr Hook voiced fears that the Reform administration would be taking instructions from the national leaders of Reform UK.

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  Reform Celebrate Another By-Election Win Over Labour – 78% of the Vote

  Reform UK has been celebrating another strong result in a by-election, with supporters pointing to the scale of the vote as evidence that the party continues to make gains in areas where Labour has traditionally been competitive.

  The result has once again placed the spotlight on the changing political landscape across Britain. For Reform, every successful by-election campaign provides an opportunity to demonstrate that its support is not limited to national opinion polls or high-profile parliamentary contests. For Labour, meanwhile, such contests provide a reminder that local elections can produce sharply different outcomes depending on turnout, candidates, local issues and the strength of competing parties.

  The headline figure of 78 per cent has attracted particular attention, although figures circulating around individual by-elections need to be carefully distinguished from official vote shares. Recent council contests, for example, have produced much closer races between Reform and Labour. In Blackpool’s Claremont ward on October 1, Labour retained the seat with 41.8 per cent, while Reform finished on 38.2 per cent.

  Nevertheless, the wider political significance of Reform’s recent performances is difficult to ignore.

  Reform builds its local election machine

  Reform UK has spent much of the past year attempting to transform itself from a party associated primarily with Nigel Farage into a nationwide political organisation capable of competing consistently at local level.

  That process has produced a series of council gains and by-election victories.

  The party’s own account of its performance in 2026 says it won more than 1,450 council seats at the May local elections and took control of 14 councils. Those figures are party claims and should be viewed in that context, but they demonstrate the scale of Reform’s local-government ambitions.

  By-elections offer a different test.

  Unlike large-scale local elections, a single ward contest can depend heavily on a small number of highly motivated voters. Campaigners can concentrate their resources, candidates can develop strong local profiles, and national political controversies can become secondary to very specific concerns about council services.

  For Reform, this creates an opportunity to build a reputation one ward at a time.

  Labour faces a different political environment

  Labour remains a major force in British local government, but the electoral environment has become more fragmented.

  The traditional Conservative-Labour contest is increasingly being challenged by Reform, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, independents and newer political groups.

  That fragmentation matters because a party does not necessarily need to win an overwhelming share of the vote to take a seat. A divided opposition can allow a candidate to win with a relatively modest percentage.

  The reverse is also true.

  The October 2026 Claremont contest demonstrated how easily expectations can be overturned. Reform had been regarded by one polling model as the favourite before voting, but Labour ultimately retained the seat by 39 votes. Reform received 419 votes compared with Labour’s 458, while Restore Britain took 79 and the Conservatives 62. Turnout was only around 22 per cent.

  That result illustrates why individual by-elections should not automatically be treated as straightforward measurements of national popularity.

  Why by-elections matter to Reform

  Even so, Reform clearly sees local contests as strategically important.

  A strong result gives the party several advantages.

  First, it provides additional councillors who can build political experience.

  Second, it gives Reform a stronger presence in communities where it previously had little organisation.

  Third, successful campaigns provide local activists with experience that can later be used during larger elections.

  And fourth, victories allow the party to argue that its support is becoming geographically broader.

  That final point is particularly important.

  Reform emerged from the political tradition surrounding Brexit and Nigel Farage’s long campaign against Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Its challenge since then has been to broaden its appeal beyond voters whose principal concern is Brexit.

  Immigration, taxation, public spending, housing, crime, energy costs and the performance of public services have therefore become increasingly important parts of the party’s political message.

  Farage’s role remains central

  Nigel Farage continues to play a central role in how Reform presents itself.

  His personal profile gives the party an unusual level of national recognition for a relatively young political organisation. At the same time, the party has been attempting to demonstrate that Reform can operate successfully without relying entirely on Farage’s presence.

  Council elections and by-elections are therefore important laboratories for that experiment.

  Every councillor elected under the Reform banner contributes to the party’s organisational infrastructure.

  That does not automatically translate into parliamentary success. But it does create a network of elected representatives who can campaign locally, develop relationships with residents and become familiar political figures in their communities.

  The transformation from protest movement into governing organisation is therefore one of the most important questions facing Reform.

  The 78 per cent figure needs context

  The headline claim of 78 per cent is striking, but election percentages can sometimes be misleading when removed from their context.

  The number of candidates, turnout, the electorate, whether the election is a council or parliamentary contest, and whether the figure refers to votes cast or another measure all matter.

  A candidate receiving 78 per cent of votes in a two-candidate contest would represent a very different political phenomenon from receiving 78 per cent in a heavily contested election with several candidates.

  This is why official result data are particularly important when assessing individual by-elections.

  Recent results also show how unpredictable these contests can be. On October 1, Labour gained Amble from Reform in Northumberland, while Labour also gained Hirst. Reform’s vote fell to 33.5 per cent in Amble and 30 per cent in Hirst.

  At the same time, Reform continues to record significant victories elsewhere.

  The party reported seven council by-election wins in June, including contests in St Helens, Tamworth, Cambridgeshire, Denbighshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, and Staffordshire.

  The picture, therefore, is not one of a uniform national swing in every individual ward. It is a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive local political environment.

  A warning for both major parties

  For Labour, the rise of Reform creates a complicated electoral challenge.

  The party cannot simply assume that previous voting patterns will return.

  Some communities that have historically supported Labour are now being contested by Reform candidates campaigning heavily on immigration, taxation, national identity and dissatisfaction with Westminster politics.

  At the same time, Labour’s local victories demonstrate that Reform is not winning every contest.

  The Claremont result is a useful example. Labour held the seat despite losing more than ten percentage points compared with its previous vote share, while Reform entered the contest without having fielded a candidate in the previous comparable election.

  That tells a more complicated story than either party’s campaign slogans might suggest.

  Reform’s next challenge

  The central question now is whether Reform can turn individual victories into sustained local political strength.

  Winning a by-election is one thing.

  Running a council is another.

  Once elected, councillors have to deal with budgets, planning applications, social care, roads, housing, waste collection and numerous administrative responsibilities. Political slogans become less important when residents want practical answers about their neighbourhoods.

  Reform’s performance in local government will therefore be closely watched.

  If its councillors can establish themselves as effective representatives, the party could strengthen its local base. If internal disagreements, administrative problems or controversial decisions dominate the headlines, the electoral benefits may be harder to sustain.

  For Labour and the Conservatives, the same principle applies.

  The era when local contests could be treated simply as extensions of national party loyalties is becoming less certain.

  A changing political map

  The latest by-election battles form part of a much larger transformation in British politics.

  The old two-party structure has weakened, while smaller parties and independents have gained opportunities to challenge established political organisations.

  Reform’s rise is one of the most visible elements of that change.

  Whether the reported 78 per cent figure applies to a particular contest or has been amplified in political commentary, the broader story is that Reform is increasingly present in local electoral battles. Recent official results show both victories and defeats, suggesting that the party’s expansion is significant but not uniform.

  For voters, the growing competition means that local elections are becoming more consequential.

  For political parties, it means that no ward can necessarily be taken for granted.

  And for Reform UK, every by-election offers another test of whether its national profile can be converted into a durable grassroots organisation.

  The next contests will provide further evidence.

  Rather than one result determining the direction of British politics, it is the accumulation of dozens of local campaigns, council victories, defeats and changing voter loyalties that will ultimately reveal how Britain’s increasingly fragmented political landscape is developing.