Reform UK has gained a council seat in a key Labour stronghold as the two parties clash over local election delays.
The Conservatives also saw off competition from the Liberal Democrats after voters headed to the polls in the final set of council by-elections this year.
Nigel Farage’s party was handed a victory as they gained a seat on Blackpool Borough Council, while the Tories took one on Harborough District Council from the Lib Dems.
Meanwhile, Reform was able to hold on in Cornwall while Sir Ed Davey’s party defended a seat in Lancashire.
GB News has dissected the results of the last by-elections of 2025.
Greenlands (Blackpool)
Jonathan Morgan became Blackpool’s third Reform UK councillor in a landslide victory, stealing the seat off Labour for Nigel Farage’s party.
Mr Morgan polled almost twice as many votes as the second placed contender to take the Bispham seat.
He told the Blackpool Gazette: “I’m exceptionally pleased. It was hard to predict, it wasn’t a massive a turnout because of the weather.
“People on the doorstep were saying they wanted a change and I was listening.”
Rick Scott from the Conservatives finished in second on 299 votes, with Labour’s Hattie Tollerson in third on 289 votes. Green candidate Brenden John Wilkinson won 79 votes finishing fourth, while Liberal Democrat Kev Benfold got 45 votes.
Independent candidate Jayden James Gaskin finished in last on 22 votes.
The by-election was held after the resignation of Labour’s Julie Jones, who had represented the ward since 2023.
At last year’s General Election, Labour MP Lorraine Beavers held the seat in for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, with a vote share of 40 per cent and a majority of 4,647 votes over Tory Paul Maynard.
The candidates standing in the Blackpool ward
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REFORM UK BLACKPOOL
St Columb Minor & Colan (Cornwall)
Reform was also able to hold onto a in a tightly fought by-election in the South West.
Heinz Glanville was elected as the new member for the St Columb Minor and Colan division.
He secured 408 votes to finish ahead of Independent candidate John Fitter who polled 325, with the Liberal Democrats finishing third on 296.
Frances Williamson from the Green Party was fourth on 173 votes, while Tory Mark Formosa got 73 votes. Labour’s Stuart Hind got nine votes while Independent candidate Nigel May got three votes.
The by-election was called after the resignation of councillor Christine Parsonage, who defected to a new independent group before deciding to stand down as a councillor for medical reasons.
Victory in the by-election has further cemented Reform’s position as the second biggest party on Cornwall Council, where the party sits in opposition.
Mr Glanville told the BBC: “I wanted to do this because I want to do the best for the village and the parish. It means a vast amount. If I can get in and I can make a small difference then as far as I’m concerned I’m doing my bit.”
Labour MP Noah Law won St Austell and Newquay’s seat from the Conservatives in the General Election, with 34.1 per cent of the vote share and a majority of 2,470 votes.
Heinz Glanville (second left), alongside other Reform UK councillors in Cornwall
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REFORM UK CORNWALL
Market Harborough Logan (Harborough)
It’s good news for Kemi Badenoch’s party as Tory candidate David Page won Harborough District Council in south Leicestershire.
Mr Page got 461 votes in a poll in the Logan ward, taking the seat which had previously been held by Geraldine Whitmore, who stepped down for personal reasons, after serving the area for over three years.
The Green Party’s Jake Oliver Bolton came second with 358 votes and the Lib Dems Marion Ann Lewis finishing third with 268.
Barry Walton from Reform UK came fourth on 195 votes while Labour’s Deborah Bennett won 42, finishing fifth. In last was Robin Lambert from the Social Democratic Party on just four votes.
Mr Page said: “Whether you voted for me or not, you have my commitment: I will be a strong, active and passionate advocate for the place you call home, and I won’t be a ‘six months later you never see them again’ councillor.
“Thank you to everyone who voted for me, and to everyone who voted at all, whether by post or by braving the grim weather at the polling station.”
The Tories remain the largest party on the district council but remain at deadlock on 16 seats, level with the Liberal Democrat/Labour/Green/Independent coalition.
In the General Election, Conservative MP Neil O’Brien held is seat for the third consecutive time in the Harborough, Oadby and Wigston district.
David Page is the new councillor for Market Harborough Logan
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Broad Oak (South Ribble)
On the south western outskirts of Preston, Sir Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats narrowly increased their majority in the Broad Oak ward with a landslide victory.
Clare Burton-Johnson won the seat for the Lib Dems with a massive majority on 810 votes over Reform’s Lee James Forshaw on 263 votes.
Tory Gareth Paul Watson finished third on 95 votes while Andrew John Rae from Labour came last on 62 votes.
The by-election was called after Liberal Democrat Cllr Harry Hancock died, having represented the ward for more than two decades.
The 90-year-old was first elected in 2003, and will be remembered by colleagues as a “true gentleman”.
In last year’s general election, the South Ribble seat was taken from the Tories by Labour MP Paul Foster, who won 42.5 per cent of the vote share with a majority of 6,502 votes.
The results come against the backdrop of further delays to local council elections.
Farage accuses the Conservatives of “colluding” with Labour to stop his party from winning after ministers said that some 53 council areas could opt to postpone local council elections until 2027.
The Government is expected to argue that the delay is needed to give councils more time to complete a reorganisation process.
Farage has hit out at the plan, claiming the delays were another step towards turning Britain into a “banana republic”.
Reform is expected to perform well in May, having consistently led national opinion polls this year.
