Analysis: Farage is turning his fire on the political establishment in all directions
2 May 2025, 07:54
The teal tidal wave of Reform is, this morning, washing over British politics, leaving Keir Starmer trying not to get swept out to sea.
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When the first results started to trickle in, we saw some truly huge swings from Labour and Conservatives to Reform.
Those turned out not to be just one-offs, but a sign of the volatile political landscape on spectacular display.
The losers? The Conservatives, of course, whom the electorate is clearly not ready to trust again yet.
Where are the political cards landing this morning as Westminster wakes up?
Watch Again: Nick Ferrari is joined by Nigel Farage after Reform's by-election wins | 02/05/25
Farage is turning his fire on the political establishment in all directions
As expected, Nigel Farage is picking up a sweep of seats across England in councils, and Reform's first mayoralty in Lincolnshire too.
He's now proved that he's a threat to both Labour AND the Tories.
Anyone who thinks it's solely the latter is burying their head in the sands.
Reform is snapping at the heels of Labour in the West of England, Doncaster and North Tyneside, and are on track to take a chunk of those seats too.
They've got a fifth MP again - and their first female too.
Jubilant Farage told LBC's Nick Ferrari this morning: "It may be by a small margin but it's a huge win. This is one of Labour's safest seats in the country, if I said to you a year ago Reform would win this by-election, you'd look at me as if I came from Mars."
Reform will now have the somewhat trickier job of having to deliver in office, where Labour figures are privately happy to see them try, with the hope they'll fail.
What's totally clear though, is that the ascendency of Mr Farage's party is far from over, and it's not just a protest vote anymore.
Frustrations with Starmer's government are sticking
Already LBC callers have been sharing their thoughts on Labour's first few months in office, and many of them have been less than impressed.
Labour say the by-election shows that the events of Mike Amesbury were unique - well you can say that again.We've also heard this morning from the Doncaster Mayor, Ros Jones, who took aim over winter fuel payments, benefit cuts AND the national insurance rise within minutes of being elected.
Voters are evidently still furious and want to see faster change.
Could Sir Keir Starmer have moved the polls if he had come by the Runcorn constituency during the campaign? We'll never know if the 16th safest Labour seat might have been saved, and Mr Farage saved a scalp.
LBC caller asks whether local elections signal a 'fracturing' of British politics
Can Kemi Badenoch make any progress?
As expected, the Tory vote has been totally collapsing overnight, with their vote share down around 25 per cent.
Mr Farage says THEY are the new opposition now
I'm confident we'll see some grumbling about her position in the coming days. Will it be noise she can brush off, or be forced to take a seriously different tack?
