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A groundswell on 4 November or more of the same?
Farmer's Weekly
|July 3-10, 2026
Recent developments in the UK, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his survival as leader of the Labour Party, were caused by a groundswell change in voter support during local elections.
In 2024, Starmer and the Labour Party won control of the British Parliament in a landslide against the Conservative Party. Two years later, Labour took a beating in local elections when the party lost 1 121 councillors and 28 municipal councils. Can South Africa learn something from this election where the biggest winner was not the arch-rival, the Conservative Party, but the Reform UK party of Nigel Farage? In a surprise, within an electoral system of first-past-the-post or simple majority, Reform UK has gained 1 450 seats, giving them control of 14 councils. This demonstrated the impact of local election outcomes on national electoral tendencies.
ISSUES DOMINATING SA ELECTIONS
In South Africa it was announced that the local government elections will take place on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. This will be the first test of broad political support at a national level since the national elections in 2024, after which the Government of National Unity was formed. Our local elections are dominated by some issues, including a growing trust deficit of voters in government; a declining trend in ANC support; failure of governance in local government in terms of service delivery; and corruption and maladministration.
This story is from the July 3-10, 2026 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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