Reform UK leader Nigel Farage boasted that the results showed the ‘beginning of the end of the Conservative Party’. Here The Mirror looks at the key moments from the 2025 local elections
Kemi Badenoch’s Tories have suffered a wipeout at the 2025 local elections with Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats winning major ground.
Nigel Farage boasted that the results – showing over 500 gains for his right-wing populist party so far – showed the “beginning of the end of the Conservative Party”. He also said it was the “end of two-party politics” with Keir Starmer suffering a string of bitter results – including defeat in a key by-election.
The PM said the results were “disappointing” but insisted he was determined to go “further and faster” in delivering the change he promised. Ms Badenoch also reacted to the Tory bloodbath saying the results were “always going to be very difficult” after her party’s historic General Election defeat.”The renewal of our party has only just begun and I’m determined to win back the trust of the public and the seats we’ve lost, in the years to come,” she added.
But the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his party had exceeded expectations. “We are the party of middle England now, and I’m really proud of what our councillors have achieved and what they’re going to achieve as they work hard for their local communities,” he claimed from a party in Oxfordshire. And Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said her party had taken seats from the Tories and Labour “up and down the country”.
Here The Mirror looks at some of the key moments from the results of the 2025 local elections.
Reform snatches safe Labour seat in major upset
Labour faced a major upset just after 6am when it became clear they had lost the key by-election in Runcorn and Helsby to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. The party fell short by just six votes – one of the closest parliamentary votes ever – to Reform’s new MP Sarah Pochin who took the seat.
The Runcorn and Helsby by-election ran alongside local elections and was triggered after former Labour MP Mike Amesbury quit after admitting punching a constituent. Amesbury won 53% of the vote at the general election – and the defeat, along with Reform gains in other Labour heartlands, will cause unease in Downing Street.
Mr Farage said: “For the movement, for the party, it’s a very, very big moment indeed, absolutely, no question, and it’s happening right across England.”
Tory bloodbath – as Reform wins councils
Kemi Badenoch’s Tories have lost hundreds of seats to Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats in a brutal day. By 5pm the party lost control of 12 councils.
The party lost majorities on Devon, Northumberland, and Nottinghamshire councils while the Staffordshire and Lincolnshire town halls were snatched up by Reform UK. Posting on X the Conservative chief Ms Badenoch said: “Congratulations to those who have won their seats and my sincerest commiserations to those who have lost today.
“These were always going to be a very difficult set of elections coming off the high of 2021, and our historic defeat last year – and so it’s proving. The renewal of our party has only just begun and I’m determined to win back the trust of the public and the seats we’ve lost, in the years to come.”
But one victory came as the ex-Tory MP Paul Bristow won the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough mayoral contest with a majority of more than 10,500 over Reform’s Ryan Coogan, with Anna Smith third for Labour.
Ex-Tory MP becomes Reform mayor
Tory defector Dame Andrea Jenkyns has become mayor of Greater Lincolnshire in a big win for Nigel Farage. The divisive ex-MP, who switched to Nigel Farage’s party last year after being kicked out at the general election, won 104,133 votes. She comfortably beat the Tories, who came second with 64,585.
The new mayor, who was a key ally of Boris Johnson, is arguably best known for giving protesters the middle finger as she arrived for the shamed PM’s resignation speech in 2022. But she is now an enthusiastic member of Team Nigel, saying of the leader: “I know one day he will make a magnificent Prime Minister.” During one of her first interviews on Friday the mayor angrily stormed out of a TV interview when she was challenged over a spiky acceptance speech.
Bruising Labour blow in Durham
Reform UK delivered another bitter blow to Keir Starmer as the party won control of Durham council – a totemic Labour area. Labour lost control of Durham council back in 2021 for the first time in a century but had been hoping to win back control at the ballot box this week. But Reform candidates sweeped a majority on the council and took control on Friday.
The area, which elected six Labour MPs at last year’s General Election, was at the centre of the Miners’ Strike of the 1980s and is home to the annual Miners’ Gala. By 5pm Reform UK had also won control of six other councils across the country.
Doncaster mayor sends message to Keir Starmer
Ros Jones was narrowly re-elected as mayor of Doncaster, beating the Reform candidate by just under 700 votes. But speaking to the BBC after her result, she said that Keir Starmer “needs to listen” to voters. She referred to controversial decisions to slash winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, as well as cutting access to disability benefits and hiking National Insurance on businesses.
She said: “I think the results here tonight demonstrate that they need to be listening to the man, woman and businesses on the street and actually deliver for the people, with the people.” Left-wing MPs at Westminster have also been delivering a similar message to the PM.
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