Reform UK secures another huge by-election win in double hammer blow to Keir Starmer

Reform UK has secured another by-election win in a double hammer blow to embattled Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Nigel Farage's party secured a win in a Heanor & Loscoe Town Council election on Thursday.

Sean Hind won a total of 472 votes in the by-election to the Heanor East ward of the Derbyshire authority - more than the candidate (255 votes) and Green rival (120 votes) combined and no other candidates standing.

The result marks the latest win for , which secured five parliamentary seats in the July General Election.

The win in Derbyshire represents a second blow to Labour, with Reform also winning the Marton ward

In that election, the Reform UK candidate secured 38.8 percent of the vote, with Labour coming in second at 28 percent and the Tories in third at 21.3 per cent.

, the Reform UK MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, praised the Blackpool result - which was triggered after the Labour councillor became the MP for Hyndburn - was a sign his party was making strides towards winning the next General Election, which is currently expected to take place in 2029.

The MP said: "A political tsunami is coming our way. Massive gain here from Labour - This is how the path to victory in 2029 starts."

The Labour Party has only won four council seats in the 26 council by-elections since September 16, according to figures from election maps.

Over the same period the Conservatives, who suffered an historic parliamentary defeat in July, have won 10 and the Liberal Democrats 5.

The next local elections - excluding by-elections - are scheduled for May 2025 and may see Labour take further losses at a local level as council elections are often seen by dissatisfied voters as an opportunity to give the ruling party a bloody nose.