Reform UK has snatched a ward in the heart of a key Red Wall town as Labour support continues to slump in a bad by-election night for Sir Keir Starmer.
Nigel Farage’s party won one of the two seats on North Lincolnshire Council up for grabs, with the Tories narrowly seeing off Reform’s surge in Axholme Central.
In further good news for Kemi Badenoch’s Tories, the Conservatives managed to gain a seat from the Liberal Democrats in the Blue Wall battleground of Oxfordshire.
GB News has taken a look at each of the by-election results across the country and what it could mean for the parties as the local elections draw ever closer.
Brumby (North Lincolnshire)
Starting in the British Steel town of Scunthorpe, Reform’s Ellen Dew won by-election in the Brumby ward, taking the seat off Labour.
The by-election was called after the death of long-serving councillor and former Mayor of North Lincolnshire Sue Armitage.
Ms Dew has now become the first councillor from Nigel Farage’s party on North Lincolnshire Council, winning the seat with 769 votes, a majority of 359.
In second place was Labour’s Thomas William Smith on 410 votes, with Sam Peter Hewson from the Green Party in third on 133 votes.
Joanne Louise Saunby from the Local Conservatives was just behind on 110 votes, with Liberal Democrat candidate Alan Kelly in last place on 47 votes.
The turnout for this by-election was 17.36 per cent.
The result may ring alarm bells for Red Wall Labour MPs in Westminister.
Labour MP Nic Dakin won Scunthorpe in 2024 with a majority of 3,542 over Conservative Holly Mumby-Croft.
The Tories have controlled the local authority since 2011, when they took control back from Labour, who had held it since 2007.
Councillor Ellen Dew celebrated with Campaign Manager Adrian Holmes (Left) and Branch Chair Jake Hutton (Right)
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REFORM UK SCUNTHORPE
Axholme Central (North Lincolnshire)
Staying in North Lincolnshire, the Conservatives managed to hold onto Axholme Central in a by-election that was called after the death of long-serving councillor David Robinson.
It was won by Caroline Ann Finch on 925 votes, albeit with the Tory majority slashed following Reform’s rise in the region.
In third place was Alex Ellis from the Greens on 157 votes, with Labour candidate Matthew Thomas Rawcliffe in fourth on 103 votes.
Coming in last place was Michael David Shaw from the Liberal Democrats on 28 votes.
The turnout was 31.23 per cent.
At Westminster, the constituency of Doncaster East & the Isle of Axholme constituency was won in 2024 by Labour’s Lee Pitcher, who took the newly created seat with a 2,311 majority over Tory candidate and former Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher.
Caroline Finch with fellow councillor Tim Mitchell
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FACEBOOK/ROB WALTHAM
Stanford (Vale of the White Horse)
More good news for Kemi Badenoch’s party as Councillor Lee Evans managed to won the Stanford by-election on the Vale of the White Horse council, taking the seat off the Liberal Democrats.
Councillor Evans said: “I am thrilled and honoured to have been elected as the new District Councillor for the Stanford Ward.Thank you to everyone who voted in the by-election.
“I am really honoured by the trust placed in me and I’ll work hard to deliver for local residents on the District Council.”
Adrian Vincent Roland Bettridge from the Liberal Democrats came in second on 395 votes, with Reform’s Sarah von Simson in third on 261.
Green candidate Jacob Joseph Yung was in fourth on 115 votes, with Labour’s Rob Blundell in dead last on 13 votes.
The Vale of White Horse District Council is led by the local Liberal Democrat group, who currently has 30 out of 38 councillors.
In the Commons, Olly Glover from Sir Ed Davey’s party won the newly-created Didcot and Wantage constituency, beating Tory David Johnston with a majority of 6,233 votes.
Tim Evans held onto the ward for Kemi Badenoch’s party
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FACEBOOK/TIM EVANS
Halstead, Knockholt & Badgers Mount (Sevenoaks)
Last but not least, in the final part of a hattrick of Conservative wins, the Tories managed to hold on to the Halstead, Knockholt & Badgers Mount ward on Sevenoaks District Council (SDC).
The by-election was called after the death of butcher and Tory councillor Gary Williamson, who had represented the ward for more than 25 years, having served as the chairman of the Development Management Committee.
Tony Marshall won the seat for Kemi Badenoch’s party with a majority of 183 over Reform candidate George Pender.
Liberal Democrat candidate Stephen John Maines came in third on 266 votes, with Green candidate Robert Edward Royston in last place on 65 votes.
The Tories currently run SDC as a minority administration, with 22 seats out of 54. In 2023, they won 33 of those seats, but last year a large number of Tories defected to form the “West Kent Independents” group.
Sevenoaks is represented in Westminster by Tory frontbencher and Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott, who won the seat in 2024 with a majority of 5,440.