Anti-immigration party Reform UK has captured almost 1,500 seats in British council elections, while Restore Britain won every seat it contested in a massive blow to the political establishment.
With counting still underway Nigel Farage’s Reform has secured 1,444 seats, up from just two, while Labour has lost 1,406 to sit on 997, the Conservatives lost 557 and are down to 773, the Liberal Democrats increased its tally by 151 to win 834 seats, and the far-left Greens won 515, an increase of 374.
Rupert Lowe’s brand-new Restore Britain, which is promising to deport millions of immigrants, won each of the 10 races it entered, with offshoot Great Yarmouth First candidates winning nine country council seats and a borough council by-election, all with overwhelming majorities.
“History made. We won ten out of ten seats, with overwhelming majorities in every single one. Great Yarmouth First, then we Restore Britain. A very special day,” Mr Lowe wrote on X.
Restore was only registered in March, and already has 130,000 members – more than the 200-year-old Tories.
History made. We won ten out of ten seats, with overwhelming majorities in every single one.
Great Yarmouth First, then we Restore Britain.
A very special day.
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) May 8, 2026
Disillusioned voters in Wales also dealt Labour a historic loss, with centre-left pro-Welsh independence party Plaid Cymru winning 43 seats, followed by Reform on 34.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted he “won’t walk away” while facing pressure to resign, while Mr Farage called Reform’s massive surge a “reshaping of British politics”.
“While we must respond to the message that voters have sent us, that doesn’t mean tacking right or left,” Starmer wrote in an article for the Guardian.
“It means bringing together a broad political movement, being assertive about our values, bold in our vision and addressing people’s demands. Unifying rather than dividing.”
Mr Farage said: “There is an historic shift in British politics that is taking place. I think the best is yet to come.”
The results come amid simmering public anger about the record number of immigrants brought into Britain by both Labour and Conservative governments despite the Brexit vote, and the ongoing invasion of the country by illegal immigrants.
So-called asylum seekers are placed in hotels at taxpayer expense, despite regularly going on to commit horrendous crimes.
The next general election is due in 2029, but Labour’s plummeting popularity could see Britons go to the polls earlier.
Header image: Left, Nigel Farage (Facebook). Right, Restore supporters campaigning (Orla Minihane, X).
