Nigel Farage claims Reform UK shouldn’t be ‘fluke or a protest vote’ as Keir Strarmer battered
Farage claimed that Labour and the Conservatives were being ‘wiped out’ in their traditional heartlands and said Reform would bring a mix of new ideas and experience
Nigel Farage was more than pleased
Nigel Farage has spoken for the first time since sweeping up in the early results for the local elections. With Reform UK running away with most of the council seats so far, calls for Keir Starmer to resign – or at least own up to the horrific results – have been ramping up.
And it seems as though the Reform UK leader is happy to fan those flames, if comments given moments after his party gained control of the Havering council in east London were anything to go by.
He said: “It cannot continue to be a fluke or a protest vote. I can honestly say you are witnessing an historic shift in British politics. This (Reform UK) is now the most national of all parties.
Farage added Labour and the Conservatives were being “wiped out” in their traditional heartlands and said Reform would bring a mix of new ideas and experience.
He added: “We all know that finances of local councils all over the country are severely stretched. We are not promising miracles but we are promising good value for money.”
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer said that he is “not going to walk away”.
Asked if he had contemplated resignation, he told broadcasters: “The voters have sent a message about the pace of change, how they want their lives improved.
“I was elected to meet those challenges but I’m not going to walk away from those challenges.”
And speaking to local Labour members as the horrific results started to come in, he said: “We’ve made some big calls, to stabilise our public finances, to invest in our public services, not to get dragged into a war in Iran.
“But we’ve also made unnecessary mistakes, one of which was that although we were right to level with the public about the scale and depth of the challenges we face, we didn’t do enough to convince them that things will get better, that things will improve, the hope.
“And that is why in the coming days I’m going to set out the steps that we will take to deliver the change that they want and that they deserve.”
He added: “These are tough results but tough days like this, they don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised at the general election, they strengthen my resolve to do so.”
With the first 40 of 136 councils declared, Labour had lost more than 200 councillors as well as losing control of eight local authorities.
Reform UK had gained 270 seats and control of one council, the Liberal Democrats had gained 29 seats and a council, and the Greens had gained 23 seats, with the Conservatives down 61, and independents, ratepayer parties and Your Party combined down a total of 59.
