The Farage surge: is the two party system over?

The News Agents

Friday, 2 May 2025 - 42 minutes

For the last decade, the spectre of Nigel Farage has been haunting British politics. From UKIP to the Brexit Party, he has loomed in the background of Westminster, threatening but never quite managing to pose a real threat to the two major parties. All that changed today. With just six votes in it, Reform took their first seat from Labour, in Runcorn - which had been one of the safest seats in the country. The party has secured other big council and mayoral wins too. Farage now claims that he, not Kemi Badenoch, is the leader of the opposition.

Is he right? How will Labour respond to this Reform victory in the by-elections? What does it mean for Keir Starmer's government? And does it mark the end of the two party system as we know it?

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