Reform now main opposition – Farage

NIGEL Farage has hailed Reform UK as "the main opposition party" after his party took control of councils from the Tories and Labour and gained an MP in Runcorn and Helsby.

- PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

Reform UK won Staffordshire and Lincolnshire councils from the Conservatives and took control of Durham County Council, where Labour was previously the biggest party.

Clacton MP Mr Farage's party has won hundreds of council seats across the country as votes continue to be counted.

The Reform leader said his party “dug very deep into the Labour vote” in the Cheshire constituency and “dug very deep into the Conservative vote” in other parts of England.

In one of the closest parliamentary contests ever, Sarah Pochin became the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, the seat that Labour won with a majority of more than 14,000 last year, by just six votes.