2026 Local Elections Thread

[martin butler]

Reform are a symptom of a much greater illness, thats been growing for years, People want instant fixes, and simple answers, and thats what reform, and a far right press give them, the rise of the far right, is no mistake,

its planned its networks of far right activists, its meda using their platforms to spread false impressions, its global fed by the american right,

 

[ainsworth74]

I get that because of the infrequency of elections, we get a huge number of people who vote for the first time at each election, but by Christ, it confirms that there are hundreds of thousands out there that just don't understand the processes and for me, don't understand politics and representation (I don't claim to be an expert myself, for clarity) and seem to be dong it as if it were a reality TV show

Yes the quality of political process knowledge (and really education) is sometimes shockingly poor. There are some people who do seem to think that Nigel Farage will be PM following this election. My local council had to put out a post on Facebook explaining there were no elections in our area this year and there were a couple of comments along the lines of "Well why not?!". No actual conspiracy theories that I could see but no doubt some will have been thinking that it was some sort of plot. Another one that was painful was during the review of Westminster constituency boundaries a few years ago was the number of people complaining that they didn't want to be moved from Redcar to Middlesbrough because of the quality of council services provided by Middlesbrough council and how they've always lived in Redcar and so why should they now have to live in Middlesbrough. Clearly not grasping that this process had nothing to do with Council (or even postal!) boundaries at all...

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Seeking to blame Lab, Lib or even Con is misplaced though. They should be blaming Trump, Putin and Netanyahu, plus Covid and possibly the over-extended lockdowns.

I'm sorry, but "loathing, anger and powerlessness" is no excuse for voting Reform, any more than it is for robbing a bank. There are plenty of other alternatives to the most recent ruling parties of Labour or the Conservatives.

I can't (other than recognising that they are racist or xenophobic or thick or some combination). And for the following reasons:

I get why certain people in certain parts of the country just want to set fire to everything.

What I don't get is why* they think Reform- run by billionaires for billionaires- are the solution to the problem.

(*unless we simply accept that they are racist and/or xenophobic and that they are stupid- and I agree it's not quite as simple as that)

Respectively, your comments here demonstrate the problem progressives face here and across the West. There seems to be a psychological block in being able to objectively observe and understand the world of Reform/Brexit/Trump voters. In our more innocent days, this extended to Tory voters too.

Trump, Putin or Netanyahu do not hold provincial white, working class areas in ridicule and contempt like our own establishment has seemed to have done for the past 40 years.

Whether or not they are racist or xenophobic, the fact is for the past 25 years they have consistently voted for lower immigration, and immigration both legal and non-legal just seems to rise and perhaps most importantly, mainstream politics just can't or won't fathom why people would want lower immigration.

People really don't care about billionaires as much as the left does. Wealth is fine, its the Eton/Private School/Oxbridge Tory posh/Labour middle class out-of-touchness that people truly hate.

 

[ainsworth74]

Nothing to do with results, but find it interesting that in Wales counting is only just about to start, rather than taking place overnight immediately after polls close.

Means the counters are less likely to be tired and make mistakes, and more people can follow the results potentially leading to greater engagement. But there is something about election night that I would miss if this approach was taken in UK general elections.

Isn't it more that it's just cheaper? If Council staff count overnight they get paid for it and paid at a higher rate of pay. If they count during their normal working hours however then it's just their normal pay?

Trump, Putin or Netanyahu do not hold provincial white, working class areas in ridicule and contempt like our own establishment has seemed to have done for the past 40 years.

I mean they absolutely one hundred percent do hold those areas in contempt. They just do it in a less obvious way (not that I'm wholly convinced left wing/progressive politicians hold white working class areas in contempt) and usually don't get raked over the coals by friendly media when they do. To take a tangential example. How do you think the Mail, Telegraph, Sun and GB News would be covering Kier Starmer if it turned out he had recieved a £5m donation just before standing to be an MP? I reckon they'd be giving it a whole lot more coverage than they gave Nigel Farage when it turned out he'd done the same thing...

Also in what universe are the likes of Trump, Putin, Netanyahu (or Farage, Tice, et al) not part of the "establishment"?

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Isn't it more that it's just cheaper? If Council staff count overnight they get paid for it and paid at a higher rate of pay. If they count during their normal working hours however then it's just their normal pay?


I mean they absolutely one hundred percent do hold those areas in contempt. They just do it in a less obvious way (not that I'm wholly convinced left wing/progressive politicians hold white working class areas in contempt) and usually don't get raked over the coals by friendly media when they do. To take a tangential example. How do you think the Mail, Telegraph, Sun and GB News would be covering Kier Starmer if it turned out he had recieved a £5m donation just before standing to be an MP? I reckon they'd be giving it a whole lot more coverage than they gave Nigel Farage when it turned out he'd done the same thing...

Also in what universe are the likes of Trump, Putin, Netanyahu (or Farage, Tice, et al) not part of the "establishment"?

I mean they don’t hold Northern England in contempt. I mean maybe Putin does but not for the same reasons Islington would.

They’re not part of the British cosmopolitan/graduate
establishment I am referring to

 

[nw1]

Respectively, your comments here demonstrate the problem progressives face here and across the West. There seems to be a psychological block in being able to objectively observe and understand the world of Reform/Brexit/Trump voters. In our more innocent days, this extended to Tory voters too.

Trump, Putin or Netanyahu do not hold provincial white, working class areas in ridicule and contempt like our own establishment has seemed to have done for the past 40 years.

Ah, so all three of them have started wars and two of them are guilty of genocide, but because they "do not hold provincial white, working class areas in ridicule and contempt" they must be alright then?

 

[Andyh82]

Labour have just lost the mayor of Hackney to the Greens

Although I’m not massively sure what remit an elected mayor in a London borough has, any more than the leader of Hackney council does?

 

[nw1]

I mean they don’t hold Northern England in contempt. I mean maybe Putin does but not for the same reasons Islington would.

They might hold Northern Ukraine, Northern Palestine or even the Northern USA in contempt, though. And far more contempt than the Labour party supposedly have for Manchester, Liverpool or Leeds.

They’re not part of the British cosmopolitan/graduate
establishment I am referring to

This sounds like a right-wing conspiracy theory to be honest. "Cosmopolitan/graduate establishment"? What exactly is wrong with graduates?

Me, I'm more inclined to believe the conspiracy theories pointing to the likes of Thiel, Project 2025, and right-wing "Christian" (lol) fundamentalists.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Ah, so all three of them have started wars and two of them are guilty of genocide, but because they "do not hold provincial white, working class areas in ridicule and contempt" they must be alright then?

What?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 May 2026 ==

This sounds like a right-wing conspiracy theory to be honest. "Cosmopolitan/graduate establishment"?

Me, I'm more inclined to believe the conspiracy theories pointing to the likes of Thiel, Project 2025, and right-wing "Christian" (lol) fundamentalists.

Have you not read any analysis of the causes of the Brexit vote over the past decade?

 

[BAFRA77]

To misquote the great Eminem - "Guess who's back? Back Again?"

Newcastle Borough Council - Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe (three seats)


Charlie Clarke (Reform UK) - 1218

Jonathan Gullis (Reform UK) - 1335

Olivia Wozny (Reform UK) - 1126

 

[ChrisC]

The awkward truth is that towns like Mansfield or Bishop Auckland have been 'left behind' because anyone with something about them left as soon as they could. These towns are now full of people who don't have much about them and so businesses who need skilled staff simply aren't seeking to relocate there. The only jobs there are in Amazon fulfilment centres or the likes. The doom spiral contin

I’m not going to make many comments because I would end up being extremely rude.

I‘ve lived in a fairly wealthy village around 7 miles from Mansfield most of my life and so I know Mansfield very well. I absolutely detest most of what Reform stands for and would never vote for them.

Mansfield has its problems, as do many of our towns and cities, but I find that over generalisation about the people of Mansfield untrue and offensive.

 

[nw1]

To misquote the great Eminem - "Guess who's back? Back Again?"

Ah, another Tory jumping ship.

Makes you wonder how all these people who seem to think "Hey man, I'm going to be really, like, alternative and vote Reform!" can do so seriously when it seems to increasingly consist of the less-desirable wing of the Tory party.

As for Eminem, I seem to remember Farage seemed to channel him (same song, same quote) in 2024 in an effort to look cool, presumably. AFAIK he doesn't even like Trump or his ilk.

 

[Tetchytyke]

mainstream politics just can't or won't fathom why people would want lower immigration

We know why. It's because they don't like the darkies.

The trouble is, they get rather upset when this is pointed out, so everyone tries to pussyfoot around the issue with talk of 'legitimate concerns' instead. Look at the stick Gordon Brown got all those years ago for privately saying that a bigoted old woman was, well, a bigoted old woman.

Immigration makes absolutely no difference to somewhere like Clacton-on-Sea, where 96% of people are white and 95% of people were born in the UK. So why do they care so much, if not racism and xenophobia?

the British cosmopolitan/graduate establishment

What on earth is that when it is at home?

FWIW I grew up in a fairly poor, working class part of Bradford. I love the idea that I'm now in some sort of elite because I got off my backside and went to school.

 

[nw1]

What?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 May 2026 ==

You seem to be almost saying they were better in one respect than our leaders because at least they didn't supposedly hold a section of the population in contempt.

The only section of the population they hold in contempt, I suspect, are the racists, the xenophobes, and the homophobes, irrespective of class.

Class is quite insignificant IMO to be honest, attitude is far more important. Plenty of middle-class racist, xenophobic bigots who would happily vote Reform - look at their gains in affluent but right-leaning Hampshire, for example.

The only person I know who is a Reform supporter is a middle-class, rather affluent, and somewhat work-shy person who lives in a fairly nice area of a coastal town i n central Southern England. I'm not great friends with them by the way, I'd call them more a "friend of a friend".

 

[Tetchytyke]

Mansfield has its problems, as do many of our towns and cities, but I find that over generalisation about the people of Mansfield untrue and offensive.

A look at the ONS education indicators for Mansfield is very illuminating: https://www.ons.gov.uk/explore-loca...174-mansfield/indicators#education-and-skills

19.6% of people in Mansfield have no qualifications, compared to a national average of 6.6%.
65.1% of people in Mansfield have GCSEs in Maths and English, compared to a national average of 73.1%.
48% of people in Mansfield have a qualification at level 3 (which is equivalent to A'Level) or above, compared to a national average of 67.1%.

So the educational attainment of the residents of Mansfield is way below what would be expected nationwide. That's not to say everyone in Mansfield has low educational attainment. But what I have said is, regrettably, true in aggregate.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

We know why. It's because they don't like the darkies.

Thank you for proving my point. An absolute stonewall answer.

The trouble is, they get rather upset when this is pointed out, so everyone tries to pussyfoot around the issue with talk of 'legitimate concerns' instead. Look at the stick Gordon Brown got all those years ago for privately saying that a bigoted old woman was, well, a bigoted old woman.

Gordon Brown is someone who would immediately think that woman was a bigot. He should have listened, she was a bellwether.

What on earth is that when it is at home?

Alright. What I mean by this is the graduate class, that disproportionately pools in London (including Oxbridge) and are over-represented in the civil service, media, academia and politics. Usually found in the Labour Party but shades of their worldview can also be found in the Conservative Party too.

You seem to be almost saying they were better in one respect than our leaders because at least they didn't supposedly hold a section of the population in contempt, unlike our so-called "establishment", which I suspect is imaginary anyway. The only section of the population they hold in contempt, I suspect ,are the racists, the xenophobes, and the homophobes, irrespective of class. Class is quite insignificant IMO to be honest, attitude is far more important. Plenty of middle-class racist, xenophobic bigots who would happily vote Reform - look at their gains in affluent but right-leaning Hampshire, for example. The only person I know who is a Reform supporter is a middle-class, rather affluent, and somewhat work-shy person (much of their income is from being a landlord) who lives in a fairly nice area of a coastal town in central Southern England. I'm not great friends with them by the way (they have some very annoying ways outside of politics), I'd call them more a "friend of a friend".

I wasn't talking about those foreign leaders. You brought them up, they're irrelevant and I dont think their influence is the cause of Reform's rise to power.

I do think class is important considering it's the (usually left-wing) middle class, that are able to gain positions of power and exercise influence easily. Leaving much of England largely unrepresented in governance.

 

[nw1]

I do think class is important considering it's the (usually left-wing) middle class, that are able to gain positions of power and exercise influence easily. Leaving much of England largely unrepresented in governance.

And what about my counter that the middle-class are not always left-wing, and indeed the working-class are often not (indeed, probably mostly not) reactionary right-wing xenophobes?

As I said, my friend-of-a-friend is the perfect example of the middle-class bigot. And plenty of them throughout affluent areas of Southern England, and other parts of the country, by all accounts. I remember a family friend, with a very middle-class background, whinging about Croatian car-washers in his affluent area of South Manchester immediately after the Brexit vote (he voted Brexit, of course) as another example.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Thank you for proving my point. An absolute stonewall answer.

OK, I'll reverse the question. I've said why I think they vote the way they do, and that's from my lived experience of living and working in those sorts of towns.

Why do you think (other than racism or xenophobia) that people living in a town such as Bishop Auckland care about immigration? And this is specifically in the context of a town like Bishop Auckland where 98% of the people are white and 97% of the people were born in the UK?

 

[weeklycommuter]

One district where the Conservatives have strongly held their ground against Reform UK is Fareham which forms part of Suella Braverman's constituency of Fareham and Waterlooville. I wonder if she is regretting her move to Reform UK.

 

[Tetchytyke]

(usually left-wing) middle class

The middle class are not usually left wing. The middle class are usually quite centrist, leaning centre-right One Nation Tory, which is why just about all the marginal Westminster constituencies are in middle class areas.

 

[nw1]

One district where the Conservatives have strongly held their ground against Reform UK is Fareham which forms part of Suella Braverman's constituency of Fareham and Waterlooville. I wonder if she is regretting her move to Reform UK.

Yes, I saw that. Never have I been so relieved to see the Conservative shade of blue on the political map.

Wouldn't it be great if she got kicked out by a One Nation Tory in the next election!

 

[nr758123]

You can see their possible supporters when you're out and about, whinging and whining about tiny, insignificant, petty things like bus lanes or cycle lanes which actually make life easier for those of us who are bus users and/or cyclists.

In an attempt to find out something about their candidates, I looked on the local Reform facebook page. There was nothing about local issues and nothing about the candidates. They was, however, a lot of obsessing about people removing their posters from lamp-posts (along with a post about how jolly it was that someone had defaced some Labour posters), which maybe is them feeding their misplaced sense of victimhood.

A couple of people did ask them what their views were on issues affecting the locality, and they seem to have mastered their Dear Leader’s trick of avoiding awkward questions simply by pretending those questions had never been asked.

 

[ChrisC]

A look at the ONS education indicators for Mansfield is very illuminating: https://www.ons.gov.uk/explore-loca...174-mansfield/indicators#education-and-skills

19.6% of people in Mansfield have no qualifications, compared to a national average of 6.6%.
65.1% of people in Mansfield have GCSEs in Maths and English, compared to a national average of 73.1%.
48% of people in Mansfield have a qualification at level 3 (which is equivalent to A'Level) or above, compared to a national average of 67.1%.

So the educational attainment of the residents of Mansfield is way below what would be expected nationwide. That's not to say everyone in Mansfield has low educational attainment. But what I have said is, regrettably, true in aggregate.

It was probably even more so the case in the past when the majority of people in Mansfield worked in the coal mines and hosiery factories. These people then were almost all traditional Labour voters. Mansfield hasn’t suddenly become a place of poorly educated people. What I found offensive were the comments that “anyone with something about them left as soon as they could” and Mansfield is “now full of people who don‘t have anything about them.”

 

[Sad Sprinter]

And what about my counter that the middle-class are not always left-wing, and indeed the working-class are often not (indeed, probably mostly not) reactionary right-wing xenophobes?

As I said, my friend-of-a-friend is the perfect example of the middle-class bigot. And plenty of them throughout affluent areas of Southern England by all accounts. I remember a family friend, with a very middle-class background, whinging about Croatian car-washers in his affluent area of South Manchester immediately after the Brexit vote (he voted Brexit, of course) as another example.

Well yes absolutely. Of course you’d get the traditional Hyacinth Bucket Tories and say the progressive London working class, but I feel neither of these groups have had a huge amount of influence on the direction of the country over the past 20 years.

 

[Cdd89]

Immigrants are not the cause of this country's problems, but so many people think they are that either Labour veers even further to the right on this issue, or we get Reform. It doesn't help that Labour has been banging the anti-Immigration drum, which it's too late for them to take back now. And even as Labour do double-down on racist rhetoric, Reform will just assert that they're not doing it "properly".

It reminds me of when a patient goes to the doctor with something they saw advertised that they want prescribed. The doctor will propose a better solution, but people will be sceptical and unless the doctor can deliver immediate results the patient will just choose another doctor. (This example is better suited to the US healthcare system!).

Thus, to adapt the analogy, there are no quick fixes to improving people's lives in the UK and certainly nothing that could have a dramatic effect within three years. I suspect the electorate needs to feel the effects of an authoritarian crackdown on immigration to see that it harms the country instead of helping it, so we can move on from this issue. Which is a very depressing conclusion!

 

[Sad Sprinter]

OK, I'll reverse the question. I've said why I think they vote the way they do, and that's from my lived experience of living and working in those sorts of towns.

Why do you think (other than racism or xenophobia) that people living in a town such as Bishop Auckland care about immigration? And this is specifically in the context of a town like Bishop Auckland where 98% of the people are white and 97% of the people were born in the UK?

I’d imagine from smaller communities the idea of regional/national community is much stronger. Having massive demographic change over half a generation challenges that worldview. Compounded by a political class who immediately calls you a racist for pointing it out or just outright doesn’t care over a series of several decades simply stokes the radicalisation. The people of Bishops Auckland may be entirely white but that doesn’t mean they can’t feel the change of the country as a whole seems to be rapidly accelerating beyond their control

 

[Tetchytyke]

Mansfield hasn’t suddenly become a place of poorly educated people. What I found offensive were the comments that “anyone with something about them left as soon as they could” and Mansfield is “now full of people who don‘t have anything about them.”

If only 48% of people in Mansfield have a level 3 qualification, that rather implies that a) the people never achieved that qualification, and/or b) that those who achieved that qualification left for employment elsewhere. I tend to incline towards b: as Norman Tebbitt said, if there are no jobs then get on your bike and move somewhere where there are jobs.

In more practical terms, companies requiring high-skill workers aren't going to set up shop in a town where more than half the population don't even have one single A'Level or equivalent.

 

[Ianigsy]

Isn't it more that it's just cheaper? If Council staff count overnight they get paid for it and paid at a higher rate of pay. If they count during their normal working hours however then it's just their normal pay?

My dad used to do election counting when he worked for our local council- I think the package was taxis to and from the count, overtime and the Friday off. One advantage of not having an all-out election is that there’s not the same urgency to count the votes.

I think we just seem to have a volatile and impatient electorate at the moment. For some people it’s a long time since the political system threw up an administration which left them feeling better off. The Tories messed up the economy and showed disgraceful disdain for the Covid regulations which they expected the rest of us to follow and Labour haven’t been able to turn things around quickly enough because of the deteriorating international situation.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Having massive demographic change over half a generation challenges that worldview

But if their town is 98% white and 97% UK-born, just as it always has been, what demographic changes are those?

 

[nw1]

But if their town is 98% white and 97% UK-born, just as it always has been, what demographic changes are those?

And also, why are Reform not doing so well in more multicultural areas (like my own ward, for example, where they came third behind the Lib Dems and Tories, with less than half of the vote of the winning Lib Dems)?

Not everyone around here has a secure and comfortable job, nor is insulated from the cost-of-living crisis. Yet tolerance for people from different backgrounds seems to be high.

It seems that Bishop Auckland really needs to be blaming neoliberal economic politics for their lot, not liberal social politics or immigration. How will Farage help Bishop Auckland? Drive out the 3% immigrants and 2% non-white people, and then it will become a utopia in his mind?

What we need is an intelligent conversation about the real causes of the problems, not the kind of ranting, reactionary rubbish spewed on the likes of Facebook and TikTok, companies headed of course by the world's real elite, and the kind of people Reform is doubtless very much in bed with.