Nigel Farage has said Reform UK is “the main opposition party” after its success so far in the 2025 local elections.
Local elections have been taking place across the country today, with Clacton MP Mr Farage's party having already won hundreds of seats.
Reform has taken control of councils from the Tories and Labour and gained an MP in Runcorn and Helsby, with votes continuing to be counted.
Mr Farage has hailed it as a "big night" and has said Reform UK is now the "main opposition".
Where has Reform UK won seats in the local elections?
Reform UK has won Staffordshire and Lincolnshire councils from the Conservatives and taken control of Durham County Council, where Labour was previously the biggest party.
The party has also won hundreds of council seats across the country as votes continue to be counted.
In one of the closest parliamentary contests ever, Sarah Pochin became the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, the seat that Labour won with a majority of more than 14,000 last year, by just six votes.
Ms Pochin’s victory takes Reform’s number of seats up to five.
Elsewhere, former Conservative minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns was elected for Reform UK as the first Greater Lincolnshire mayor with a majority of almost 40,000 over her former party.
The party also took control of Staffordshire County Council and took 21 seats in Northumberland, which now remains under no overall control.
Mr Farage told the PA news agency: “It’s been a big night for us.
“We’ve dug very deep into the Labour vote and, in other parts of England, we’ve dug deep into the Conservative vote, and we are now, after tonight there’s no question, in most of the country, we are now the main opposition party to this Government.”
A phenomenal win for @AndreaJenkyns.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 2, 2025
Her result is proof positive that the old two-party system is now dead. pic.twitter.com/abaHqLJiwB
However, Conservative co-chairman Nigel Huddleston has said it is not “credible” for Mr Farage to suggest Reform could be the opposition.
Mr Huddleston told BBC Breakfast: “He can’t even manage five MPs previously. We’re (on) 121.
“In local government, we’ll still have over 4,000 seats most likely after this election.
“I think that is just not a credible comment from Mr Farage.”
Polling expert Sir John Curtice described Reform as being “in business”, and described them as a "major challenge".
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The Strathclyde University professor told BBC Breakfast: “The big question we were looking to these elections to answer was, the message of the opinion polls is that Reform are now posing a big threat to both Conservative and Labour, neck and neck with them according to the polls.
“Is that really true? And I think we now already know that the answer to that question is yes.
“Ukip never managed to win a parliamentary by-election afresh in the way that Reform have managed to do in Runcorn.”
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