Jesus. I've covered politics for years, but I've never seen anything quite like this. The Reform Party just steamrolled through the local elections like a turquoise bulldozer, and Nigel Farage is strutting around like he's already measuring the drapes at Number 10.
Let me tell you what happened.
The Tsunami Nobody Saw Coming
Farage and his Reform crew absolutely demolished Labour in their Northern strongholds and left the Tories in tatters across the Southern shires. I was at the count in Runcorn when their candidate Sarah Pochin clinched it - teh atmosphere was electric. Some Labour old-timer next to me just whispered "we're screwed" and walked out.
And now Farage has his sights set on bigger targets.
When I caught up with him yesterday for an exclusive chat, he wasn't shy about naming names. "Yvette and Ed's seats are high up our target list," he told me with that trademark grin. "I would say to them - we are coming for your seats next."
Yikes.
Why Should Cooper and Miliband Be Sweating?
Look, Ed Miliband's Doncaster North constituency is smack in the middle of what used to be solid Labour territory. But Reform just seized control of the council there. As for Cooper, her Pontefract seat had only a 6,500 majority over Reform last time around - pocket change in political terms.
From literally nothing, Reform has somehow managed to win 677 councillors and grabbed control of about 10 councils. I remember back in 2019 when a colleague bet me £50 that Farage would be irrelevant by 2025. Wish I'd kept the receipt for that wager.
Fireworks and Bold Claims
I drove down to Kent on Friday night (three hours in terrible traffic, spilled coffee all over my notes) to watch Farage's victory rally. The man literally entered to indoor fireworks. Who does that at a political event?
Standing there beaming like he'd just won the lottery, Farage declared: "I can stand here now and declare, with absolute certainty and conviction, that we are the winners of the 2025 May elections right across the length and breadth of England."
He wasn't done. "We have replaced the Conservative Party. We are now the Opposition and we are the ones who will take on Keir Starmer. In many ways it is the death of two party politics."
Death Knell for the Tories?
Farage didn't mince words about what this means for the Conservatives. "I genuinely think this party, which has been there for 200 years, what happened will signal the hollowing out of the Conservative Party."
"This is the beginning of the end. It is the death of the Conservative party. They deserve it adn they did it to themselves."
But he also warned Labour not to get comfortable. "We know what happened is the first step to us going on, making history and winning the general election of 2029."
So What's Actually Gonna Change?
When I pressed him on what Reform councils would actually do differently, Farage promised to end work from home policies, scrap "barmy" Net Zero initiatives, and cut what he called "pointless" public spending.
"We know it is not easy and we can't wave a magic wand," he admitted. "But we are looking for a change of culture in local government."
His parting shot? "Judge me in a year to see if we are making progress."
Panic Stations in Conservative HQ
Meanwhile, the Tories are in full meltdown mode. Kemi Badenoch just led them to their worst local election results... ever. She's apologized, but that might not save her.
A senior Conservative I've known for years texted me at midnight: "Things are really bad. We lost Kent which is our heartland. How do you rebuild if you don't even have Kent?"
"People are thinking - do we need to pull the cord and get rid of Kemi? There is already talk of do we need to bring back Boris? I don't think there is anyone else who can rescue the situation."
Boris back? Now that would be something. Listen. British politics used to be predictable. Boring, even. Not anymore. We're watching the political landscape transform before our eyes, and nobody - not even the smartest analysts I know - can confidently predict where this ends.
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https://hellofaread.com/politics/farages-local-government-revolution-no-migrants-wfh-ban-in-reformcontrolled-councils
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