Newly-elected Reform UK councillor Darren Grimes has declared Labour faces an "extinction level crisis" after a disastrous set of election results last week.
Nigel Farage's party secured a convincing majority in Grimes's Durham council in the May 1 elections and seized control of eight authorities from the Conservatives, including its former strongholds Kent and Staffordshire.
The local elections marked the first major electoral test since Labour's landslide general election victory last year.
Speaking to GB News, Darren Grimes, a new Councillor for Durham County Council, criticised both Labour and the Conservatives for what he described as an "obsession" with environmental policies while ordinary people struggle with basic services and rising costs.
Darren Grimes said that Reform will not be looking at Net Zero
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He Grimes said: "We’ve got a pothole practically every mile. So let’s focus on filling in those bad boys and that’s not even including the cost of hiring electric JCBs, which increases the cost of fixing a pothole.
"I’d quite like the potholes to be filled, even if it means not meeting our net zero commitments.
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"I don’t know about you, Bev, but when it comes to net zero, DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity), and all these other issues, we’re going to ignore them. We’re going to focus on delivering for people.
"And that means actually focusing on the pound and the pence, which are massively stretched at the moment. Not on the pet projects that Labour and the Tories have obsessed over for far too long."
Discussing Reform's success, he said: "It’s been an absolutely amazing thing to happen not just in this part of the world, but in others too.
"I think it actually marks the death of the two-party system. The Tories are totally finished spent as a political force.
"And the Labour Party? Well, ten months into government and they’re already left totally shattered.
"We’re seeing new contenders rise across the Midlands and the North. And if you look at the new poll out today about Wales, Labour could be finished there too. This is nothing short of an extinction-level crisis for the Labour Party."
Reform UK has promised to deliver genuine change for voters who feel betrayed by mainstream parties.
The party has pledged to focus on practical issues affecting everyday life rather than environmental targets, or "pet projects."
Nigel Farage is the leader of Reform UK
GETTYAfter the historic win Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told GB News: "We will be in charge of budgets totalling billions of pounds and we have to show that we keep our word."
He emphasised the importance of fulfilling the promises made during the campaign.
He explained: "The last time a party in England tried to break the mould it was the SDP [Social Democratic Party], they were led by some big, national figures."
"The SDP never established a base in local government, we have done so. That's why our prospects of doing something are much better."
