Nigel Farage’s party was robbed of victory in a crunch council by-election
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)
Reform UK missed out on a council by-election win last night after a split in the vote with Restore Britain. Labour held on to the Claremont ward on Blackpool Council with 42% of the vote share. Nigel Farage’s party took 38%, while Rupert Lowe’s Restore won 7% and the Tories took 6%. Blackpool voted by almost 70% to leave the EU and is part of the northern “Red Wall” of traditionally Labour-voting constituencies that Reform is targeting.
Restore leader Mr Lowe said: “Restore Britain has started the process of standing candidates all over the country in local by-elections.
Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe (Image: Getty)
“We are building a national political party from nothing, in a very crowded field. For a seven-month-old party to turn up from nowhere and get over 7% in a Blackpool ward which has been Labour for generations is remarkable progress — beating the Tories, Greens and Lib Dems.”
Mr Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, launched his right-wing party after his acrimonious exit from Reform in March 2025.
It comes after Restore also robbed Reform of victory in another council by-election in August.
Zack Polanski’s Green Party took the seat on Dover council from the Tories with 28% of vote.
Reform was just behind on 27%, while the Conservatives were third with 17%, Labour fourth with 14% and Restore in fifth with 10%.
A Reform source said at the time: “The message from this by-election is clear: vote Restore, get Green. The only thing Lowe and his acolytes are restoring is the uniparty.”
It comes as the latest YouGov polling puts Reform UK in the lead with 25%.
The party was consistently leading national opinion polls but has faced a difficult period with rows over finances, while Labour has been boosted by Andy Burnham taking over from Sir Keir Starmer.
The YouGov poll puts Labour second on 24% and the Tories third with 19%, while Restore Britain is on 3%.