Reform UK launches full-scale attack on Tory and Labour heartlands as rural Britain up for grabs

Reform UK is targeting Tory and Labour-held wards across rural Britain in this week's council by-elections.

During the May 2026 local elections, Nigel Farage's party secured more than 1,400 local councillors across England, breaking deeply into the nation's rural and post-industrial heartlands.

A turquoise tidal wave broke onto the Conservative Party's traditional grip on rural, shire, and coastal areas by capitalising on local discontent over immigration, housing, and rural infrastructure.

These included taking majority control of the predominantly rural Conservative stronghold of Suffolk County Council, surging heavily across Essex County Council to seize outright control from the Tories, and stripping Kemi Badenoch's party of its overall control of Hampshire County Council for the first time since 1997.

Other Gains saw Reform unseat Tory councillors across vast swathes of rural and semi-rural England, including Newcastle-under-Lyme and parts of Lincolnshire.

Nigel Farage's party also caused significant disruption to Labour working-class and post-industrial "Red Wall" towns and surrounding semi-rural wards.

Reform UK captured every single seat Labour was defending in Wigan (22 seats) and Hartlepool (12 seats), ejected Labour from power in Angela Rayner's local council area for the first time in 47 years and took full control of the Sunderland local authority.

It comes after Andy Burnham was accused of "waging war" on Britain’s countryside, with many rural Britons declaring that Labour does not care about them.

The Countryside Alliance showed a total collapse in support for the Government among rural communities, with just 15 per cent of those living in the countryside feeling Labour cared about their issues.

In this week's preview, three of the four wards are in rural parts of the UK.

East Markham (Bassetlaw)

Voters in East Markham headed to the polls in an unusually scheduled Tuesday by-election for Bassetlaw District Council.

Yesterday's contest was triggered after Conservative councillor Gary Dinsdale stepped down in July, following criticism over his attendance record; council records showed he attended just two meetings throughout 2026.

The ward encompasses nine parishes spread across a predominantly farming landscape south of Retford in Nottinghamshire.

For more than 20 years, it has comfortably returned Conservative councillors.

But Reform UK swept away the Tories in local MP Robert Jenrick's backyard.

The party secured 49.6 per cent of the vote, sending the Conservatives into freefall with the party losing a staggering 37.6 per cent of its vote share.

Labour already holds overall control of the council, so the outcome will not alter the balance of power.

But Mr Jenrick hailed candidate Matthew Evans's campaign after the result was confirmed.

"An incredible 44 per cent swing from Tory to Reform in Newark," he grinned. "So proud of our candidate, Matthew Evans and my hardworking team. Deeply honoured that my Newark constituents are backing Reform."

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Wreake Valley (Charnwood)

Voters in Wreake Valley head to the polls this Thursday for a Charnwood Borough Council by-election that carries significant implications for the authority's political direction.

The contest began when Laurie Needham, leader of the Green group on the council, resigned in August due to health problems, describing the decision as "incredibly tough".

Wreake Valley, a three-member ward established in 2023 covering rural communities such as Queniborough, East Goscote and Thrussington, saw the Greens win all three seats at its inaugural election.

Labour subsequently formed a minority administration through a cooperative agreement with the Greens.

The Conservatives remain the largest party with 22 seats, while Labour holds 20 and the Greens seven, with two independents.

Five candidates are fighting for the ward.

James Mark Poland stands for the Conservatives, bringing name recognition as the county councillor for the overlapping Syston Fosse division, where the Tories secured 41 per cent of the vote in May 2025.

Defending the seat for the Greens is Hamzah Irfan Sheikh, who has centred his campaign on opposing controversial proposals to extend Leicester's urban boundary into Charnwood.

Labour's Jay Dyas faces a formidable challenge given the party managed just 9 per cent in the ward three years ago.

Michael Kenneth Slade represents Reform UK, a party absent from the 2023 contest, while Liberal Democrat Murray Alexander Sinclair completes the field.

Walkley (Sheffield) 

Voters in Sheffield's Walkley ward head to the polls this Thursday in a by-election carrying significant consequences for the city's finely balanced council.

The contest was triggered when Green councillor Andy Davies stepped down in August, just four months after defeating Tom Hunt, Labour's leader on Sheffield City Council, by a mere 73 votes.

Mr Davies cited mental health concerns, saying he was unprepared for the heavy weight of obligation that came with the role.

Mr Hunt has confirmed he will not seek to reclaim the seat.

With no party holding overall control, and seats distributed tightly between Labour (25), the Liberal Democrats (22) and the Greens (19), the outcome could reshape the council's political direction.

The race is widely seen as a straight fight between the Greens and Labour.

Seb Van Bilsen Irias carries the Green banner, while Hannah Cawley, who previously stood in Burngreave, leads Labour's bid to win back the ward.

The Greens took this particular seat in both 2021 and May 2026, yet Labour secured the ward's other two council places in 2023 and 2024 with half the vote.

Reform UK's Andrew John Telford hopes to improve on the party's 14 per cent showing in May, buoyed by a recent Reform by-election victory in Sheffield's Southey ward.

Alex Purvis returns for the Liberal Democrats, Sonny Ullah stands for the Conservatives, and Isabelle Amy France represents the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

Avondale and Stonehouse (South Lanarkshire) 

Voters in South Lanarkshire's Avondale and Stonehouse ward head to the polls this Thursday to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Provost Margaret Cooper in July.

The multi-member ward, encompassing Strathaven, Stonehouse and surrounding rural communities south of Hamilton, has an electorate of approximately 13,000.

Ms Cooper was a towering presence in local politics, initially representing Labour before winning re-election as an Independent in 2022, taking 24 per cent of first-preference votes.

Her seat formed part of the cooperative Labour/Liberal Democrat/Independent administration that controls the council, making the outcome critical to the ruling coalition's ability to hold off the SNP opposition.

Nine candidates are vying for the single open seat under Scotland's Single Transferable Vote system, where voters rank their preferences and a winner must reach a set quota rather than simply topping the poll.

The SNP's Leigh Payne, who stood in the ward four years ago and recently claimed 30 per cent of the vote in the neighbouring Larkhall by-election, looks a formidable challenger.

Independent Andrew Forde is bidding to preserve the non-party representation Cooper established, while Labour's Hannah Miller carries the banner of the coalition's senior partner, which secured 20 per cent of first preferences in 2022.

The Conservatives' Ade Aibinu hopes to improve on the party's 21 per cent showing that year, and Reform UK's George Hobbins will seek to replicate his party's recent breakthrough victory in Larkhall.

David Glennie for the Liberal Democrats, Michael Grant for the Scottish Greens, Gary Allan for Your Party and Ken Thomson for the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom complete the ballot paper.

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