Local elections: Zia Yusuf says Labour-Tory stranglehold will be ‘decisively broken’ as Reform eye major gains

Asked how confident he is of winning the Runcorn and Helsby seat, he said: “As you can see Chris, they’re counting votes as we speak.

“We have fought an incredible campaign and we are incredible excited about the prospect of Sarah Pochin becoming a Reform MP.

“We’ve had hundreds of activists here today and I don’t think we could have possibly run a better campaign. This is one of the safest Labour seats in the country and we are a start-up party.

“The fact we are seriously in the running of winning this seat is testament to the support built up by Reform in the past 10-11 months.”

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Asked why the momentum behind Nigel Farage is “different” to what we have seen before with his Brexit campaign and UKIP’s rise, he explained: “I think there’s a few reasons.

“Number one is the mood of the country. The word betrayal comes up a lot on the doorstep, more from lifelong Labour supporters, more from Labour supporters than those who supported Tory.

“His own base thinks he’s totally betrayed them and he doesn’t stand for anything. I think this is going to be a historic set of local elections, probably the most important that have ever run.

“The stranglehold the two parties have held over British politics is going to be decisively broken.”

Polling stations across England closed at 10pm tonight in what marks the first major electoral test for Keir Starmer's Labour government since taking office last year.

Voters cast their ballots in 24 councils across England, six mayoralties and a parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, Cheshire.

The elections are being closely watched for signs of Reform UK's growing influence under Nigel Farage's leadership.

Starmer has acknowledged that the results could prove challenging for his government, with many contests taking place in traditional Conservative strongholds.

Reform UK is expected to make significant gains as counting begins through the night.

The Runcorn and Helsby by-election is expected to deliver one of the first results of the night, with Reform UK tipped as favourite to overturn Labour's nearly 15,000 majority.

Some polls suggest the race is too close to call, despite Labour winning the seat with 53% of the vote less than a year ago.

The contest was triggered when former Labour MP Mike Amesbury resigned after receiving a suspended prison sentence for punching a constituent in an incident captured on video.

While Nigel Farage has sought to downplay Reform's chances, a victory in Runcorn would provide concrete evidence of voters in traditional Labour constituencies turning to his party.

Reform UK has seen a dramatic rise in popularity since the general election, with opinion polls now putting them at around 25 percent compared to the 14.3 percent they achieved in July 2024.