Reform UK won the Runcorn and Helsby constituency from the Labour Party in a by-election held on 1 May.
Reform UK won 12,645 votes — six more than the Labour Party, which won 12,639. The Conservative Party came in third with 2,341 votes.
As The Student reported in February, the by-election was called following Labour MP Mike Amesbury’s punching of a constituent.
Reform UK’s margin of victory makes it the closest by-election result in British history. This followed a recount that had previously given Reform UK a majority of 4 votes.
Nevertheless, Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage quickly hailed the result as evidence of his party’s insurgency. Farage said that Reform “has had Labour for lunch”.
He added that it was a “big moment” for British politics because it showed that two-party politics “is finished”.
The by-election’s result was announced on Friday, 2 May, when local council and mayoral elections were held throughout England. Scotland will have elections to its Parliament in 2026 and hold local council elections in 2027.
At the time of writing, results are still trickling in. But, Reform UK has won the Greater Lincolnshire Mayoralty and over 300 councillors (so far).
“Official portrait of Nigel Farage MP crop 2” by Laurie Noble is licensed under CC BY 3.0.