The UK’s May local elections could be viewed as the beginning of the end of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s premiership, after the populist hard-right Reform UK party won big, with Starmer’s center-left Labour party losing hundreds of seats.
The Labour Party leader vowed to press on, saying that “what we witnessed with the last government was the chaos of constantly changing leaders, and it cost this country a huge amount.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has consistently called for a general election since May, most recently saying this morning that his party “demands a general election to fix broken Britain.”
Nigel Farage demands election after Starmer resignation
Nigel Farage demands election after Starmer resignation
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Farage, who has been working in and around politics for three decades, is staunchly anti-immigration, was the architect of Brexit, and is an ally of US President Donald Trump.
He has been accused of deeply offensive, racist and antisemitic behavior throughout his teenage years.
The Reform UK party aims to “restore Britain’s power, reward hard work, defend our culture, and put the British people first,” its website says.
The first four policies listed on Reform’s website relate to immigration.
“Illegal immigration is out of control,” the party says, vowing to “remove all illegal migrants from the UK” and “ensure that anyone who enters the country illegally will be ineligible for asylum.”
Reform also promises to “defend and protect British culture and traditions,” “dramatically cut foreign aid” and scrap environmental policies in support of British farmers, among other policies, should it get into power.
Following his party’s gains in the May elections, Farage said that Reform was no longer a “fluke or a protest vote,” but a “truly national party” that was “here to stay.”