Panic stations for Keir Starmer as Labour stronghold falls to Reform as fury mounts over election delays

Reform's Welsh candidate Kristian Salkeld saw off competition as Labour's vote plummeted by almost 50 per cent in the key battleground seat ahead of this year's Senedd Elections, which are widely tipped to be a two-horse race between Nigel Farage's party and Plaid Cymru.

There was also good news for the Tories, who held on to a key seat in Cheshire, while Zack Polanski's Green Party saw a heavy defeat in the Cotswolds.

GB News has taken a deep dive into all the results and what they mean for each council.

Leeswood (Flintshire)

In Flintshire, Reform gained its first ever councillor in the Welsh county as Kristian Salkeld clenched the Leeswood ward with 22.3 per cent of the vote in the "stronghold" seat.

Independent candidate Joseph Caruana finished second with 19.2 per cent, followed by fellow independent David Rule with 18.8 per cent.

Labour’s Ray Thomas came fourth with 12.1 per cent, with Allison Davies from Flintshire People’s Voice getting 11 per cent.

Richard Sefton from the Liberal Democrats was next with 9.5 per cent with Oliver Martin Wilson from the Welsh Tories on 4.7 per cent.

Independent candidate Shaun Owen finished in last on 2.4 per cent of the vote.

The by-election was triggered by the death of long-serving councillor Ray Hughes, who represented the ward for more than 15 years.

Reacting to his win, Mr Salkeld said: "Thank you so much to the residents of the Leeswood and Pontblyddyn Ward, previously a Labour stronghold. I've never experienced anything like it. The tension last night was electric.Thank you to a brilliant team."

The turnout in the ward was 718, with Mr Salkeld winning with a majority of 22.

After yesterday's by-election, the council is still under no overall control, with Labour running a minority administration with informal support from the Liberal Democrats.

At Westminster, Labour's Becky Gittins won the newly created Clwyd East seat for Labour with a majority of 4,622 over former Vale of Clwyd Tory MP James Davies.

Willaston & Thornton (Cheshire West & Chester)

After being hit with a series of big name defections, there was good news for Kemi Badenoch as the Conservatives managed to hold on in Cheshire West and Chester.

Dylan Roberts won the seat for the Tories, beating Labour's Edward Flynn on a majority of just under 300 votes.

Reform's Richard Hare came third on 299 votes, with Lib Dem Carol Braithwaite on 132 votes.

Scott Fulton-Brown from the Green Party came in last on 107 votes.

Since June 2025, the council has been run by a Labour minority administration.

At a parliamentary level, the ward mostly falls into the northernmost tip of the Chester North and Neston constituency, last won by Labour's Samantha Dixon with a majority of 11,870 against Tory Simon Eardley.

The Rissingtons (Cotswolds)

It was a blow to The Green Party as their support collapsed in the Cotswolds with the Liberal Democrats surging to victory in The Rissingtons ward.

The by-election, triggered by the resignation of Andrew Macclean, was won by Craig Thurling with a majority of 53 votes, as Sir Ed Davey's party extended their majority in the Gloucestershire council.

Conservative candidate Alastair Watson came second on 31.3 per cent, with Reform's Matt Fincham in third on 25.8 per cent.

Bob Eastoe from the Greens came in last on just 5.5 per cent.

In Westminster, he corresponding North Cotswolds constituency is represented by long serving Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.

Glenrothes West & Kinglassie (Fife)

It was good news for the SNP as John Swinney's party won the Glenrothes West & Kinglassie ward in Fife.

Zoe Hisbent took the seat in the Fife Council by-election held on Thursday, replacing outgoing SNP councillor Julie Ford.

Ms Hisbent received 1167 first preference votes, while Reform UK's Romano Valente came in second with 725 votes.

Jacob Winton from Scottish Labour got 413 votes, while Scottish Conservative Andrew Butchart came in fourth on 182 votes.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Ed Scotcher was in fifth on 125 votes, with Danny Smith from the Scottish Family Party in last on 25 votes.

First Minister John Swinney congratulated the local party on their win with a swipe at Reform leader Nigel Farage.

He said: "Well done Zoe Hisbent on a stunning win. Nigel Farage turned up to campaign and lost. Labour polled 15 per cent. Excellent result."

The ward lies within the Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency for the Scottish Parliament, which the SNP has held since 2007, and within the Glenrothes and Mid Fife constituency for the UK Parliament.

The UK seat was regained by Labour's Richard Baker from the SNP in 2024, having previously been taken by Peter Grant in 2015.

Central Wymondham (South Norfolk)

Another spot of good news for the Tories in South Norfolk as Jonathan Purle managed to hold on to the Central Wymondham seat on South Norfolk Council.

Mr Purle saw off competition from the Green Party's Paul Barrett, who finished in second on 454 votes.

Anthony Spears from Reform came in third on 363 votes while Lib Dem Stephen Witt was in fourth on 211 votes.

In further bad news for Labour, candidate Lowell Doheny finished in dead last on 182 votes.

The turnout was 1,755, with the Tories winning on a majority of 91.