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UK Local Elections 2026
23AUG

Labour takes Hirst and Amble from Reform

3 min read
19:09UTC

Labour won Hirst and Amble from Reform UK on 1 October, the first contests of the autumn in which Restore Britain also stood.

← Back to Reform loses three wards, wins ClactonJump to analysis ↓
PoliticsDeveloping
Key takeaway

Labour won two Northumberland seats from Reform UK with Restore Britain on the ballot.

Labour took Hirst and Amble on Northumberland County Council from Reform UK on 1 October, in the first contests since early September to feature Restore Britain, a party standing to Reform's right⁠1. In Hirst, Labour won on 50.1%, beating Reform (30.0%) and Restore (10.3%) combined. Amble was closer: Labour won on 38.8%, against Reform's 33.5% and Restore's 6.7%, so the two parties of the right together polled 40.2%. In Claremont, a Blackpool ward, Labour held on 41.8% to Reform's 38.2%, with Restore on 7.2%.

Adding the two right-wing shares assumes Restore's voters would otherwise have backed Reform, and a handful of wards is a small sample. Under winner-takes-all council voting, the candidate with most votes wins however the rest divide, and a three-way contest on the right handed the Greens a Dover ward in August.

Restore is also collecting Reform's councillors. Andrew Crumplin and Mark Hadfield in Plymouth, where Reform's deputy group leader had already quit, Andrew Southall in Dudley and Michael Rees in Gloucestershire all moved to Restore Britain in September, according to Mark Pack's tracker⁠2. The summer's defectors had gone to independent benches or to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Across 19 English council by-elections from 3 September to 1 October, Reform gained three seats from the Conservatives and Labour and lost the two in Northumberland⁠3. Labour held Burnage in Manchester on 10 September on 42.1%, with The Greens on 32.0%, in the seat Bev Craig gave up on becoming mayor of Greater Manchester⁠4. In Oxfordshire, the Liberal Democrat James Hartley held Chesterton and Launton on 3 September, a result that gave his party majority control of Oxfordshire County Council, according to Mark Pack⁠5.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

When a councillor dies or resigns, the ward holds a by-election to replace them. These small contests are watched as a test of how parties are doing between big elections. Restore Britain is a new party, set up in February 2026 by Rupert Lowe, the Great Yarmouth MP who left Reform UK. It stands to the right of Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage. On 1 October Reform lost two seats in Northumberland to Labour. In one of them, Amble, Reform and Restore together got more votes than Labour, but each alone got fewer. Under the British system, only the top candidate wins.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

English council wards use first past the post, so a party loses a seat to anyone who beats it, regardless of how close a like-minded rival comes. A second party on the same side can cost seats with a modest share.

Rupert Lowe founded Restore Britain in February 2026 to the right of Reform UK. It recruits from the same pool of voters and councillors, and Reform's high councillor turnover gives it a ready supply.

A councillor who changes party keeps the seat until the next scheduled election. No recall or by-election is triggered, so each defection moves a seat to Restore without a vote.

What could happen next?
  • Risk

    If Restore keeps standing in seats Reform defends, Reform may lose more marginal council seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats or the Greens on shares that would once have won.

    Short term · Suggested
  • Consequence

    Reform councillors now have a second right-wing party to join, which raises the cost to Reform of internal disputes in councils it runs.

    Medium term · Suggested
  • Precedent

    Restore's first results give both parties a reason to consider local pacts, as the Brexit Party and the Conservatives did in 2019.

    Medium term · Suggested
Sources:Mark Pack (relaying Election Maps UK)·Mark Pack (relaying Election Maps UK)·Mark Pack
Mentions:Labour Party →Reform UK →Restore Britain →Blackpool →Mark Pack →Plymouth →Green Party →Bev Craig →Social Democratic Party →Liberal Democrats →Great Yarmouth →Greater Manchester →Brexit →Rupert Lowe →Nigel Farage →Andrew Crumplin →Mark Hadfield →Andrew Southall →Michael Rees →Dudley →James Hartley →Gloucestershire →Northumberland County Council →Oxfordshire County Council →Margaret Thatcher →Boris Johnson →Ashington Hirst →Amble →Blackpool Claremont →Burnage →Chesterton and Launton →SDP-Liberal Alliance →
First Reported In

Update #18 · Legal advice halts England's council mergers

Mark Pack (relaying Election Maps UK)· 7 Oct 2026
Read original →
Causes and effects
Caused by
Carol Ney quits Reform over a post
Plymouth's Reform group lost two more councillors to Restore Britain after its deputy group leader quit in August.
Occurred 7 Aug 2026
Read story →
Carr takes his Reform seat to the SDP
Summer defectors went to the SDP or independent benches; September's went to Restore Britain.
Occurred 6 Aug 2026
Read story →
Three more of Reform's May intake quit
September's moves to Restore Britain add to departures from Reform's councillor groups.
Occurred 1 Sept 2026
Read story →
Craig wins Manchester in its first second round
Bev Craig's move to the Greater Manchester mayoralty caused the Burnage vacancy.
Occurred 30 Jul 2026
Read story →
This Event
Labour takes Hirst and Amble from Reform
Restore Britain is now contesting council seats and taking Reform councillors, so Reform faces a rival on its own flank.
Different Perspectives
Rhun ap Iorwerth / Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)
Rhun ap Iorwerth / Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)
Ap Iorwerth presented six priorities to the Senedd on 22 September without numeric targets or a named partner party, promising to work across the chamber where there is common ground. He says his government will be judged on results.
Michael Marra / Scottish Labour
Michael Marra / Scottish Labour
Marra won the leadership on 19 September, and three days later his 17 MSPs backed Swinney's right-to-decide motion once their child-poverty amendment was written in. He says Scottish Labour's task is to tell voters what it stands for.
Andy Burnham / Labour Party
Andy Burnham / Labour Party
Burnham told conference in Liverpool on 29 September that Labour's next manifesto will commit to changing the electoral system, and invited every party into a National Commission on Electoral Reform. He has not named a replacement system, and no chair or remit has been published.
Conservative Party (frontbench peers and Kemi Badenoch)
Conservative Party (frontbench peers and Kemi Badenoch)
Conservative frontbench peers argued against retrospective rules at the Lords Second Reading on 14 September, a position that protects gifts made before any cap. Kemi Badenoch rejected Burnham's electoral reform commission on 2 October, accusing him of using it to entrench the left.
Reform UK
Reform UK
Reform denied wrongdoing after the Channel 4 News programme, called the sting a hoax by climate activists and said it would cooperate with the Metropolitan Police. In the same month it announced £36m gifts from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.
Steff Aquarone / Liberal Democrats (North Norfolk)
Steff Aquarone / Liberal Democrats (North Norfolk)
Aquarone told Rayner in the Commons on 7 September that North Norfolk District Council had spent money preparing for a reorganisation the Government has now withdrawn. He puts the cost of the cancelled merger on districts in the four areas.