Reform gain control of several councils after by-election and mayoral wins

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c39jedewxp8t

Chris Mason
Political editor

Demolishing the duopoly in British politics. It’s been talked of before.

The formation of the Social Democratic Party in 1981. The coalition government of the 2010s. The European Parliament elections in 2019, when the Conservative share of the vote was 9% to Labour’s 14%.

But around those moments, big majorities at Westminster for the Conservatives or Labour. In 2017 the big two in the Commons swept up 82.4% of the vote combined.

Perspective should triumph over breathlessness, then. But it is also true that if yesterday was a test to establish if Reform could match their opinion poll ratings with actual votes they have actually surpassed that.

This then is a profound moment in our contemporary politics whatever lies ahead, for Labour, the Conservatives and others will be obliged to respond to it.

Senior Reform figures believe the primary driving motivation behind their surge, that most powerful of human emotions: betrayal; betrayal, they argue, from both of Westminster’s big beasts.

Now, two things to observe: the perceived competence, or otherwise, of Reform in office, a catalyst, perhaps, to fuel further rise or fall and the reaction from their rivals it provokes.

And a final thought - if English politics feels splintered and noisy, remember Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland too contribute further to the cacophony of political voices demanding our attention and endorsement.