British politics is changing after a night that saw a sensational, record-breaking victory by Nigel Farage in the North West.

That’s the conclusion of a nail-biting night that delivered more drama than expected and gives strong indications – though not yet certainty – about how politics is being reshaped for a new era, which means greater political unpredictability and challenges for the main parties in highly uncomfortable ways.

The significance of this morning’s results will be argued over for years to come.

Reform beats Labour by six votes; follow Politics latest

Hours after counting began, there are two big themes for definite.

The first is that Reform UK proved they continue to evolve into a mature and potentially lethal political force.

Across the country they are now winning votes in Labour areas as well as Conservative, and they have run both parties close in a number of key contests.

They achieved vote shares of 40% or more, twice their share at the General Election. They even won a seat from the Liberal Democrats.

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Mayoral election results as they come in

The second is that while Labour was able to deliver a number of physiologically important mayoral wins – often by the smallest of margins – they need to go up a gear to fight.

Labour’s vote declined but did not collapse and they are still able to get “their people” to the ballot box from Bristol to Tyneside.

But in the most important battle of all – the North West seat of Runcorn and Helsby – they could not, and Reform UK pulled off a stunning triumph, taking the 49th-safest Labour seat in the country.

Nigel Farage and the team had poured huge amounts of time and resource into the seat, with multiple visits and the chairman Zia Yusuf on the ground to direct operations. It paid off.

By contrast, Sir Keir Starmer did not turn up once. Number 10 will be asking itself today whether a prime ministerial visit could have been worth those six precious votes.

It is true to say that politics has become so unpredictable because neither party knew what was about to happen.

The evening started with Reform UK hinting at victory, but by 2am Labour was quietly confident. By 3am, it had turned out neither really knew, and a full recount was launched after Reform UK was four votes ahead. After the recount, Labour had lost by six.

This is the moment Reform UK proved itself a protest party for Labour voters as well as Tories.

Significance for Reform is immense

The significance is immense. At last year’s general election, there were over 150 seats where the Tories lost because Reform UK got more votes than the margin by which the Conservatives lost to the winner.

Now this suggests that Reform UK has the capacity to mete out the same damage to Labour and puts the two traditional parties on notice that they face a threat.

Labour has already shown itself willing to bend because of the threat of Reform UK, slashing the aid budget to pay for more military spending and slashing Whitehall with a promise of more to come.

The question is, how much further can Labour go in this direction? In some of the council by-elections there was already evidence of bleeding to the Greens – a sign that more left-leaning one-time Labour supporters are deserting the party because they think it no longer represents them.

What course does this Number 10 chart now? A slew of announcements on immigration and slashing red tape – and risk a greater schism on the left – or end up in the mushy middle and pleasing no one? The choices are unappetising.

Then there is the challenge for the Tories.

For those hoping for a non-aggression pact on the right, today’s results suggest that Reform UK can credibly question whether they are a party of the right, given their success in Labour areas.

This is a complicating factor. Where does the logic heard in the leaked recording by Robert Jenrick – brought up by Nigel Farage this morning – take us now?

There will be those who point to UKIP’s success in the early 2010s and lack of impact in the 2015 election, and say that there is no certainty that Reform UK will fly.

Of course, there is a chance they may fade, particularly if their infighting gets worse.

But UKIP never achieved a breakthrough on the left like Reform UK has done to date, and its impact may never actually be in the seats that it wins.

Arguably in that early 2010 period, Farage and UKIP left an even bigger legacy without ever holding power: a Brexit referendum which he went on to win.

There are now lots of paths for what Farage has started to change Britain. We do not know where this ends.

Russell Brand has arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, charged with sexual offences including rape.

The 49-year-old comedian, actor and author – who has most recently been based in the US – was charged by post last month with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault in connection with incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.

The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.

The star, who is over 6ft tall, wore a black shirt which was unbuttoned to his mid-chest, black jeans and sunglasses.

He slowly made his way into the court’s main entrance, surrounded by a scrum of journalists and photographers. Remaining composed and looking around as he walked, he didn’t speak or respond to any of the questions shouted at him as he went.

In a video posted on X after he was charged, Brand said: “I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”

In a video referencing the court case posted on social media on Thursday, he said he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence and was “going to [his] country right now”.

The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.

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Six mayors are being elected in England, with most of the mayoralties last contested in 2021.

These include four combined authority mayors , otherwise known as metro mayors, as well as two city mayors.

Two of the mayors will take up new positions in the Hull and East Yorkshire, and Greater Lincolnshire combined authorities. The other mayoralties were all last contested in 2021.

Vote 2025 – latest updates

Metro mayors

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• Greater Lincolnshire (REFORM GAIN)
• Hull and East Yorkshire
• West of England (LABOUR HOLD)

City mayors

• Doncaster (LABOUR HOLD)
• North Tyneside (LABOUR HOLD)

All of these mayoralties will be elected under a first-past-the-post electoral system, which is also used for Westminster parliamentary elections.

See below for more detailed breakdowns of results for each race.

Metro mayors

There are four metro mayors being elected in combined authorities. These mayors are elected by voters from several different areas and counting will take place at local council level. Tables will be updated as each local area reports its result.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

First established in 2017, the combined authority covers six areas. These are Peterborough, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, and Cambridge local council areas.

Labour won the mayoralty from the Conservatives when it was last contested in 2021.

Greater Lincolnshire

Reform’s Andrea Jenkyns has won the race to be Greater Lincolnshire’s first mayor, with 104,133 votes to the Conservative candidate’s 64,585.

The combined authority covers nine areas. These are North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Boston, Lincoln, East Lindsey, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, and South Holland local council areas.

Hull and East Yorkshire

This is a new mayoralty, being elected for the first time in 2025.

The combined authority area covers both Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire local council areas.

West of England

Labour have avoided losing the West of England mayoralty to Reform, but their margin has been cut in half to just under 6,000 votes.

Labour won the mayoralty from the Conservatives when it was last contested in 2021 by a margin of 12,019 votes.

The combined authority covers three areas: Bristol City, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset local council areas. The authority was established in 2017.

City mayors

There are two city mayors being elected, one for Doncaster and one for North Tyneside.

Labour’s Ros Jones, who has been the Mayor of Doncaster since 2013, has been re-elected, but came just 698 votes ahead of the Reform candidate.

Labour have managed to hold onto the mayoralty of North Tyneside with an even thinner majority of just 444 votes, with Reform coming in second place.