Reform UK faced their first ever council seat defences this week, and they managed to lose both of them.
They may have made big gains at the local elections in May, but it seems Nigel Farage‘s party are already struggling to hold onto seats in some areas.
On Thursday, the party faced two council by-elections in seats they won in May. The first was in Nottinghamshire seat Newark West, where the Reform councillor had stepped down after less than a week.
Here, the Tories reclaimed the seat by just 8 votes. Winning councillor Keith Girling said the circumstances of how the by-election had come about had prompted anger from many who voted for Reform in May.
“We’ve knocked on a lot of doors and some of those that voted Reform [in May] were very angry at the fact he resigned,” he told the BBC.
“It’s cost about £25,000 to run this election, from a party that said they’re going to save money.”
This wasn’t the only defeat for Reform on the night though. Up in Durham, the Lib Dems ousted Reform in the county council seat of Benfieldside.
This by-election was also sparked by a resignation after it was discovered that Reform’s Andrew Kilburn, who won the seat in May, had already worked for the council.
Kilburn stood down after just nine days in the seat.
It’s estimated that just under £50,000 of taxpayers money was spent on the by-elections.
Terry Rooney, who won the Benfieldside seat for the Lib Dems, said Reform’s “millionaire backers” should pay the estimated £22,800 it cost to run the by-election.
He told the Northern Echo: “I have campaigned for the Reform Party’s millionaire backers to pay for the £23,000 of council taxpayers’ money they have wasted on this by-election due to their own incompetence nominating an ineligible candidate.
“They must now listen to the people of Consett and Benfieldside and pay back the council taxes that could have been used on play areas, potholes, or helping disabled children.”
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