When Susan Tapscott went to vote in the local elections, there was only one party she considered. “Reform,” the retired legal worker says. “They’re the only ones who understand how people are feeling… fed up with politicians, fed up with illegal immigration costing millions every day, fed up with the price of everything going up and nothing getting better.”
Tapscott is one of thousands who turned to Nigel Farage’s party, sending British politics into an unprecedented spin. Across England, council seats that were once red strongholds turned turquoise. Authorities including Gateshead, Sunderland, Sandwell and Wakefield fell under Reform control, while huge gains were made from Birmingham to Bradford. In Barnsley, Reform went from no presence to 42 members, taking control of an authority that had been Labour for 50 years.
“It’s wonderful,” says Tapscott, a grandmother who now does hair modelling. “It shows that people won’t accept what is happening to their country.” However, the victory raises questions about how Reform will fare running councils, and who in Labour could win back lost voters. In Barnsley town centre, praise for Reform is common. “We’ve been taken for granted by Labour for years,” says one bus driver. “Now we have someone to vote for who might make a difference.”
Tapscott’s main reason for backing Reform is concern over illegal immigration. Figures that up to £6m is spent daily on housing asylum seekers irk her. “You talk about a cost-of-living crisis,” she says. “No wonder we have one if we’re wasting all that money on looking after people who shouldn’t be here.” She acknowledges local councillors won’t influence national policy but says her vote demands a mindset shift.
Angus McKinlay, a market trader, won’t say who he voted for but is happy Labour has been given a bloody nose. The 54-year-old reels off complaints: rising minimum wage, national insurance, and a lack of fairness in the welfare system. “As far as I can see, he [Keir Starmer] spends his whole time either making poor decisions or making U-turns,” he says, referencing the Peter Mandelson affair. “Why would you bring back someone who had been booted out twice already?”
Since the vote, there have been hair-raising revelations about new Reform councillors. At least two have been suspended: Nathaniel Menday in Sheffield is under investigation for sharing a Nazi flag and using white supremacist symbols, and Glenn Gibbins in Sunderland has been temporarily axed.
