What does the surge of Farage’s Reform mean for UK politics?

Tories left reeling as they suffer heavy losses in local elections

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Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage celebrating as he addresses supporters and councillors after Reform UK took control of Durham County Council after winning more than half of the seats on May 02, 2025. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage celebrating as he addresses supporters and councillors after Reform UK took control of Durham County Council after winning more than half of the seats on May 02, 2025. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

On today’s Inside Politics podcast Irish Times London Correspondent Mark Paul joins Hugh Linehan to discuss what Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is already calling “the beginning of the end of the Conservative Party” as Tories lost council seats all over England.

And to add icing to Farage’s cake, Reform Party candidate Sarah Pochin dramatically won the Runcorn and Helsby byelection by just six votes, the narrowest margin of victory in a byelection since 1944.

Labour didn’t fare well in Thursday’s local elections either - will they now view Reform as a legitimate challenger? And is the clock already ticking for Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch?