Hopes from within the Conservative Party for a post-conference bounce have been dashed as Reform and the Liberal Democrats romped to victory in a series of Super Thursday by-elections.
Voters went to the polls in the constituencies of Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride and Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, two of the most senior Tories.
In Devon, Sir Mel saw the third Lib Dem gain in his seat in recent months, while in Newark, the constituency held by Mr Jenrick, Reform managed to hit a double blow against the Tories.
A senior source told Steerpike: "The Reform election machine is only getting stronger by the week, as Robert Jenrick found out tonight. The countdown to May is on."
GB News has dissected the results and what they mean for all the main parties.
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Balderton North and Coddington (Newark and Sherwood)
In the first of two victories for Reform UK in Newark, backed by Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, Kay Smith won in Balderton North and Coddington ward, taking the seat off the Tories with a majority of 65.
In second place was Janette Barlow from the Conservatives, with Martin James Lunn from the Green Party in third on 173 votes. Labour's Tracey Jevons-Hazzard finished in fourth on 101 votes.
The turnout in Balderton North and Coddington was 25.26 per cent.
Councillor Smith said: "I am totally thrilled to make history as the first declared Reform UK councillor for Newark and Sherwood District Council.
"The people have spoken, the people want change and I am so pleased that they have put their faith in me."
Kay Smith and Michelle Home were victorious in Nottinghamshire
|NEWARK REFORM UK
Castle (Newark and Sherwood)
Reform UK's Michelle Home was elected to the Castle Ward in the west of Newark, beating the Conservatives by just 11 votes.
After a recount, Councillor Home won on 204, ahead of Tory candidate Mathew Skinner on 109 votes.
In third place was Labour's Lisa Geary on 88 votes, while Independent candidate Jane Harrison finished fourth on 74 votes.
Alla Musson from the Lib Dems was in fifth on 70 votes, with Green candidate Bee Newboult on 61 votes.
The turnout in the ward was 26.54 per cent.
The Nottinghamshire council is run by a partnership of Labour, the "Independents for Newark and District" group and the Liberal Democrats.
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Jonny Austin won in the Leicestershire ward
|REFORM UK
Fleckney (Harborough)
In further good news for Reform in the East Midlands, Nigel Farage's party managed to gain its first seat on Harborough Council in Leicestershire.
Fleckney, near Market Harborough, falls in the Harborough, Oadby and Wigston constituency, held by Shadow Minister Neil O'Brien.
Reform's Jonny Austin got 551 votes in a poll in Fleckney ward, with Liberal Democrat candidate Stephen Walkley in second, with 453 votes
The Tory candidate Peter Critchley was shafted into third place with 416 votes, with the Green Party's Jessie Jenkins in fourth on 102 votes, leaving Labour's Helen Morrison in fifth place with 54 votes.
The district council is currently led by a 16-strong coalition of nine Liberal Democrat councillors, three Labour members and three Greens and an independent.
Okehampton South (Devon)
The Liberal Democrats also managed to deliver a blow against the Tories, gaining a seat in Sir Mel Stride's constituency of Central Devon.
On the northern edge of Dartmoor, in Okehampton South, Sir Ed Davey's party took a seat off the Greens, who did not stand a candidate in the by-election.
Jan Goffey won the seat for the Lib Dems with 356 votes, with Tory candidate Lois Esther Samuel coming in second on 152 votes.
Independent candidate Julie Yelland finished up in third with 116 votes.
The SNP's Anne Marie Caldwell won the by-election
|FIFE COUNCIL
Buckhaven, Methil & Wemyss Villages (Fife)
In a further humiliation for Labour north of the border, the SNP cruised to victory with Anne Marie Caldwell winning the Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages by-election for John Swinney's party.
Councillor Caldwell won 1594 votes, with Reform candidate Mark Davies picking up 1080 votes, ahead of Labour’s Donna Donnelly, who saw her party’s vote slump to just 778.
Liberal Democrat candidate Jill Reilly got just 99 votes, while Alba’s Christine Agnes saw her party take just 83 votes.
Brian Mills, standing in the ward for the Tories for a second time, got just 64, with Kieiran Anderson in seventh on 45 votes for the Sovereignty Party.
Councillor Caldwell said: "Too often politicians or candidates make promises they can't keep or claims that are demonstrably untrue, and that results in an erosion of trust - something all who believe in democracy must challenge.
"During this campaign, I committed only to what I can realistically achieve for the residents of this ward, and I am determined to deliver on those commitments with my colleagues across Levenmouth, which will soon be under new leadership.”
The result took the SNP’s total number of councillors in Fife to 35, but they remain in opposition, with Labour’s 18 elected members running a minority administration.
In Holyrood, the ward is within the Kirkcaldy constituency, which the SNP gained from Labour in 2011.
At Westminster, the ward falls within the Glenrothes and Mid Fife constituency, which Labour's Richard Baker won in 2024, with a 2,954 majority over the SNP's John Beare.