Reform UK is main opposition party, Nigel Farage claims after election wins

Nigel Farage has claimed Reform UK has overtaken the Conservatives as the main party of opposition after his party narrowly won a byelection, a mayoralty and more than a dozen council seats in early results on Friday. The Conservatives slumped from 16% of the vote at last year’s general election to 7% in this contest, narrowly finishing ahead of the Green party in third place. Meanwhile, Andrea Jenkyns, the former Conservative MP, won the newly created Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty with a majority of 44,000 votes. The results bolster findings from national polls, which put Reform ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives. The Greens were disappointed to lose out in the West of England mayoralty race, which polls suggested they would win, but were hoping for gains in other parts of the country later in the day.