Nigel Farage has claimed that Labour and the Conservatives have been “wiped out” in parts of England as Reform UK celebrates a series of gains in the local elections, prompting warnings of a historic realignment in British politics and fresh pressure on Sir Keir Starmer.
Speaking after Reform secured its first London borough victory in Havering, Mr Farage said the results represented the end of traditional political divides.
“What you’re witnessing is an historic change in British politics,” he said. “Forget left-right, there is no more left-right. It is gone, it is out of the window, it’s finished.”
He claimed Labour was being “wiped out” in long-standing strongholds, while predicting similar outcomes for the Conservatives in their southern heartlands, including Essex.
Early results from across England suggest Reform UK has made significant advances in Labour’s so-called “Red Wall” areas, taking hundreds of council seats in what party figures have described as a breakthrough night.
The surge has intensified pressure on both major parties, with opposition figures warning that traditional voting loyalties are fracturing at pace.
Mr Farage told GB News that Reform was “scoring stunning percentages in traditional old Labour areas”, adding that voters were abandoning the old political spectrum in favour of what he described as a new alignment.
Labour, meanwhile, has suffered a series of setbacks in key councils, including losses in Greater Manchester and parts of London, while the Conservatives have also endured heavy defeats across multiple authorities.
The scale of the losses has triggered unrest within Labour’s wider political orbit. Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the Labour-affiliated TSSA union, has reportedly encouraged discussions with other unions about Sir Keir’s future, adding to speculation of potential leadership tensions should results worsen.
Eslamdoust said: “Unions like the TSSA will not stand by in the wake of this electoral disaster and let Keir Starmer pave the way for a hard-right Government led by Nigel Farage,” she said.
The union chief added that, without a leadership change”, the party’s fate would be destined for “catastrophe”.
Senior Labour figures, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, are understood to be monitoring the situation closely as results continue to emerge.
Further developments are expected as counting continues across England, with attention now turning to devolved elections in Scotland and Wales, where Labour and the SNP face their own electoral tests.
While Reform UK has hailed the results as evidence of a political “realignment”, critics caution that local election swings do not necessarily translate into general election outcomes. Nonetheless, the scale of disruption has already prompted renewed debate about the stability of Britain’s two-party system.
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