English local elections: Farage says ‘it’s the beginning of the end of the Conservative party’ after sweeping Reform wins

The Guardian (Live Page) ^ | May 2 | The Guardian (Live Page)

[RandFan]

Farage claims these elections mark 'beginning of the end of the Conservative party'

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has claimed that these elections mark “the beginning of the end of the Conservative party”.

Speaking at a rally in Consett in Country Durham, he said:

[This is] the beginning of the end of the Conservative party. They may well have been around since 1832 and the Great Reform Act, but they’ve been wiped out in the shires of England, wiped out in those West Midlands, southern, south-western areas where they’ve got their members, they’ve got their councillors, they’ve got their base, they raise the money. They all frankly cease to exist.

And they now become an obstacle. Because what is perfectly clear, given those mayoral contests in both Donny [Doncaster] and indeed North Tyneside, is that whilst we clearly are the main challenges to Labour in the Midlands and the north, if you vote Conservative you stop our chances of winning. If you vote Conservative, you get Labour.

But if you vote Reform in the Midlands and the north, from now up until the general election, you get Reform.

Sky News has the clip.

"This is the beginning of the end of the Conservative Party."

Reform UK leader @Nigel_Farage speaks from Consett as his party takes control of Lancashire Council, adding "We are clearly the main challengers to Labour in the Midlands and the North."https://t.co/TC2ROCL7wW pic.twitter.com/JTKO7xChrY

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 2, 2025 Share

[RandFan]

Nigel has killed the CINOs / RINOs. Some here will say well deserved.

[dfwgator]

Nigel better beware that there will certainly be infiltrators within the party who will try to undercut him.

[RandFan]

It’s always an issue

[toddausauras]

Nigel might go soft on deportations unfortunately.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Nigel should immediately announce that he is not, nor ever has been, suicidal.

[bitt]

p

[Larry Lucido]

How to write a British news story:

Take one phrase, such as ‘beginning of the end of the Conservative party’, repeat five or six times, add more words to fill in the blanks, and voila.

[Angelino97]

Of course Conservatives will defect to Reform. Reform can't win without Conservative voters coming over.

The challenge will be in welcoming former Conservatives without diluting Reform's agenda.

[MinorityRepublican]

Some Conservative voters should defect to Labour. They’re content with the status quo.

[ChronicMA]

Of course the Tories did poorly, they were in office less than a year ago

Of course Labour did poorly, they are in office now

But a few years from now at the next election the Tories will be a party long out of power, and in much better shape to compete strongly. Reform and the Tories will have to cooperate on a district by district level if they want to gain control of parliament.

[ModelBreaker]

“Nigel has killed the CINOs / RINOs. Some here will say well deserved.”

Not killed. Some will join labor, which is probably where they belong. Some will do Liz Cheney type stuff. And some will just keep sniping and trying to keep Reform out of power by continuing to sap votes to a dying party. And there’s surely a National Review equivalent in GB.

[Angelino97]

Reform and the Tories will have to cooperate on a district by district level if they want to gain control of parliament.

Some Tories will proudly proclaim that they must regretfully endorse Labour, rather than form an alliance with "hate."

[PGalt]

GREAT news! BUMP!

[TheDon]

I was annoyed by that as well.

Don’t they have editors?

[Nextrush]

He’s already had to deal with that for years in fact one of the five MP’s elected in the last election went off the rails I would not be surprised if that person was a plant.

[dfwgator]

England swings like a pendulum do.....