England fragmented as Reform rout leaves old order in disarray

The 2025 local elections delivered record-breaking levels of fragmentation, with Reform storming ahead of Labour and the Conservatives, writes Hannah Bunting.

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If there were such a thing as landslide victories for local elections, Reform could easily claim to have won one in 2025.

Out of the 1,641 seats available, Nigel Farage's party came away with 677-that's more than 41%. The Liberal Democrats came second with 370 (a net gain of 163). Overall, only a quarter of seats went to the two main parties combined-the Conservatives on 319 (down 677) and Labour 98 (down 189).

Looking at the ward-level results shows that the voting patterns in 2025 were very different to those seen at any other local election. It's clear that this election broke records for the extent of fragmentation - a significant movement away from the dominance of the two parties that have dominated British politics for the past century.

There are several ways to measure this. One method is by looking at the two-party vote share, this is because fragmentation occurs when voters have a greater number of parties to choose from and opt for parties other than Conservative and Labour when casting their ballots.

Analysis of 1,282 wards in the 2025 local election shows the average two-party vote share was just 36.8%. That's the lowest it's ever been since Labour established itself as a main party.