Huge Reform Victory as Nigel Farage Celebrates Biggest-Ever By-Election Win
Reform UK has recorded a major electoral breakthrough after securing 65.3 per cent of the vote in the Skelton East ward by-election for Redcar and Cleveland Council, delivering the party its strongest-ever vote share in a by-election and adding to the pressure facing Britain’s established political parties.
The result saw Reform finish comfortably ahead of Labour, which received 19.2 per cent of the vote, while the Conservatives lost the seat to Nigel Farage’s party. The scale of the result is particularly notable because it surpasses Reform’s previous highest vote share of 65.1 per cent, recorded in Thornley and Wheatley Hill, County Durham, during the 2025 local elections.
For Farage and his supporters, the result offers another opportunity to argue that Reform is becoming a serious electoral force rather than simply a destination for voters disillusioned with the traditional parties.
However, one local by-election cannot establish how the country would vote in a general election. The result does, nevertheless, provide a clear indication of Reform’s strength in Skelton East and presents fresh questions for Labour and the Conservatives about how they intend to respond.
Reform sets a new electoral benchmark
The headline figure from Skelton East is difficult to overlook. Reform secured 65.3 per cent of the vote, giving the party a commanding position in the contest and pushing its previous local-election benchmark into second place.
Labour’s 19.2 per cent share left it well behind the winner, while the seat’s transfer from the Conservatives added another setback for a party already facing pressure from competing political forces.
The result is significant not simply because Reform won, but because of the proportion of voters who backed it. A vote share above 65 per cent demonstrates concentrated support within the ward and gives the party a strong local result to highlight as it seeks to expand its presence across England.
It also provides a useful political contrast with the party’s earlier attempts to establish itself beyond its most familiar strongholds. Reform has spent years building its profile around immigration, national sovereignty, taxation and dissatisfaction with Westminster. Its growing local-election presence gives it more opportunities to demonstrate that these messages can translate into votes.
Yet the precise meaning of the result must be considered in its local context. Ward boundaries, turnout, candidate recognition and the circumstances of an individual contest can all influence the outcome. The result establishes Reform’s dominance in this particular election; it does not automatically demonstrate equivalent support across the country.
Even with that qualification, the new benchmark gives Farage’s party a prominent achievement to promote as it prepares for further electoral contests.
Why the result matters for Nigel Farage
For Farage, the Skelton East victory strengthens a political argument he has made repeatedly: voters who feel disappointed with the established parties are increasingly willing to support an alternative.
Reform has built much of its appeal around immigration control, opposition to what it describes as wasteful government spending, lower taxation and a demand for greater accountability from political leaders. The party has also sought to attract voters who believe successive governments have failed to address pressures on public services, living standards and local communities.
A result of this scale gives Reform an opportunity to argue that its message is resonating beyond Westminster and is translating into support at council level.
Local elections are particularly important for a party seeking to build a lasting political organisation. Council seats can provide a platform for local campaigning, help establish a presence in communities and give candidates experience of dealing with residents’ concerns.
However, the responsibilities of local government differ considerably from those of the national government. Councillors must deal with issues such as local services, planning, housing and council finances, while many of Reform’s most prominent political promises concern immigration, taxation and national economic policy.
The challenge for the party is to demonstrate that its local representatives can turn campaign messages into practical decisions and measurable outcomes.
Labour and the Conservatives face different challenges
The figures from Skelton East present a difficult result for both Labour and the Conservatives, although the political implications are not identical.
For Labour, finishing with 19.2 per cent of the vote leaves the party far behind Reform in this ward. It raises questions about whether Labour can maintain its appeal among voters who are dissatisfied with the direction of national politics or concerned about the delivery of public services and the economy.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, lost the seat despite their efforts to rebuild following their defeat at the 2024 general election. Reform’s ability to take Conservative-held territory demonstrates the pressure facing the party from a competitor seeking support from many of the same voters.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has attempted to distinguish her party through proposals on taxation, public spending and economic policy. Her conference speech included a pledge to abolish stamp duty if the Conservatives win the next general election.
She also proposed a “golden rule” under which only half of savings generated through spending cuts would be spent, with the remainder directed towards reducing the deficit. Another proposal involved reducing student numbers, with the stated aim of saving £3 billion to double the apprenticeship budget.
These announcements form part of a wider effort to present the Conservatives as a party focused on lower taxes, fiscal restraint and vocational training. But the Skelton East result underlines the difficulty of rebuilding voter support while Reform competes for people who previously backed the Tories.
Badenoch has also criticised her political opponents, including Farage and Labour, accusing them of relying on what she described as the same “magic money tree”. Her argument is that political promises must be matched by credible funding plans.
Whether such policies will persuade voters who have moved towards Reform remains an open question. The local result cannot answer that question on its own, but it demonstrates the scale of the challenge confronting the Conservatives in this ward.
A warning against treating one by-election as a national forecast
Although Reform’s vote share is striking, the distinction between local-election results and national polling remains important.
A council by-election measures the choices of voters in one particular ward on one particular day. General elections involve different candidates, wider policy debates, national campaigns and varying levels of participation. A party can perform exceptionally well in one locality without securing the same level of support across the country.
National polling also changes over time. A YouGov survey for The Times, conducted on October 11 and 12, 2026, put Labour on 24 per cent, the Conservatives on 23 per cent and Reform on 21 per cent. The figures suggested that the national picture was more competitive than the Skelton East result alone might imply. <Cite refs={[“turn762790news24”]} />
The poll was a snapshot of voting intentions among surveyed adults, not a prediction of the result of a future election. Polls can differ according to methodology, fieldwork dates and the way respondents are asked about their voting intentions.
The next general election may not be required until 2029, unless it is called earlier. That leaves time for political circumstances, leadership perceptions and party policies to change.
For Reform, the task is to turn local breakthroughs into durable support across constituencies with very different political traditions. For Labour and the Conservatives, the challenge is to understand why voters are turning away in some areas and whether their policy offers can persuade them to reconsider.
The next test for Reform UK
The Skelton East result provides a clear electoral milestone, but it also increases expectations of what Reform can achieve.
Winning a council seat can help the party expand its local network, yet sustained success requires more than a strong national profile. It requires credible candidates, an effective organisation and the ability to respond to local issues after election day.
Reform will also face scrutiny over the practical details of its national policies. Voters may welcome promises of change, but they will want to know how those proposals would be implemented, how much they would cost and what consequences they could have for public services and government finances.
The party’s opponents will seek to challenge those plans, while Reform will attempt to use results such as Skelton East to argue that the established parties have lost touch with sections of the electorate.
For now, the numbers provide the clearest measure of the outcome: Reform won 839 votes and 65.3 per cent of the total, compared with Labour’s 247 votes and 19.2 per cent. The Conservatives received 179 votes, or 13.9 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats secured 19 votes, representing 1.5 per cent. Turnout was approximately 38.8 per cent. <Cite refs={[“turn762790search0″,”turn762790search6”]} />
The victory gives Reform a new benchmark and offers Farage another result with which to make his case for political change. But the wider battle remains unresolved. Whether the party can reproduce this level of support elsewhere will depend on its organisation, its candidates and the response of voters to the competing offers presented by Britain’s political parties.
Skelton East has delivered a decisive local result. Its national significance will be judged by what happens next.