{"id":575963,"date":"2026-05-10T06:29:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/575963\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T06:29:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:29:21","slug":"joy-anger-and-apathy-on-the-streets-of-reforms-new-merseyside-stronghold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/575963\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy, anger and apathy on the streets of Reform’s new Merseyside stronghold"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the tired people of St Helens, it felt like a change was needed, but whether Nigel Farage’s populists will deliver what this place requires is a whole other question<\/p>\n

15:32, 09 May 2026Updated 15:56, 09 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/p>\n

Sarah Emmett in St Helens town centre (Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

It’s a dreary and dull Saturday morning in the town centre of St Helens<\/a> and Chris Smith is feeling anxious. A lifelong Labour voter, the party she supports has just been absolutely decimated in the local elections, losing control of a town it has largely dominated since 1974 and run continuously for the past 16 years.<\/p>\n

What makes things worse for Chris, is who was behind the decimation. “I didn’t want Reform,” says the 68-year-old, the day after Nigel Farage’s party seized power here. “I think it is the wrong party for this town and I am very scared of what (Farage) is going to do. What is he going to do with the NHS? With the care system? It is very, very scary.”<\/p>\n

Anyone in Labour circles knew they would have a big job trying to retain their majority in St Helens ahead of Thursday’s vote. Most thought they would lose it and a good number felt Reform could take over. But the manner and brutality of the defeat still came as a surprise.<\/a><\/p>\n

In one fell swoop, the red rose party went from having a working majority to holding just two seats, as Reform stormed to a 34-seat total and power.<\/a> It is as firm a rejection of those who were in charge here and remain in charge in Westminster as you could find, but what lies behind this stunning result?<\/p>\n

Chris is a loyal Labour voter, but she, like many, have lost faith in the state of this post-industrial town. “They’re making an effort to make the town look nice but we’ve lost three shops since February in the town. There is no footfall. You come here, there’s nothing for you to see.”<\/p>\n

\"Maureen<\/p>\n

Maureen Parr in St Helens town centre today(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Then she addresses the other elephant in the room, adding: “I don’t like Keir Starmer by any means. There’s something about that man that doesn’t ring true with me.”<\/p>\n

On the subject of the condition of this place, you can see why people are feeling pessimistic. This is a Saturday and things aren’t exactly bustling.<\/p>\n

The so-called high streets are littered with shuttered shops. Many of those that have managed to remain open are selling vapes or takeaway food. It is not hard to understand why people here feel like they want something to change.<\/p>\n

Steve Murphy is one of the people celebrating Reform’s victory in St Helens this morning and thinks the result is “fantastic” for the town.<\/p>\n

“We’ve needed change for a long time,” he adds. “Labour was supposed to be a working class party but they’re not really and have not been for a few years now. I think Reform can bring about a change for normal people.<\/p>\n

“Myself I’m working. I’m 50 now but I feel like I’m not getting anything back. I’m working hard. I look at the town as well and it looks dishevelled, old, tired. There’s not much being put into it.”<\/p>\n

This is echoed by fellow Reform voter John Parry, a retired electrician, who tells us: “I hope that it’s going to bring business into this town because its been a long time since anything was done.<\/p>\n

“Maybe if they (Labour) got their policies right and they did something for the people of the town, maybe they’d still be in power.”<\/p>\n

A former coal mining powerhouse, at one point around the turn of the 20th Century, St Helens’ collieries were producing over a million tonnes of coal each year.<\/p>\n

Glassmaking was another industry to put St Helens on the map. But while the sector remains a key part of the town’s fabric today – with the historic firm Pilkington still overlooking the town centre – it is an industry that has seen closures, cutbacks and significant job losses in recent times.<\/p>\n

\"Reform<\/p>\n

Reform supporter John Parry was happy with the party’s St Helens victory(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

This all adds to the feeling of malaise on the streets of the town centre, a feeling that politics and decision-making has left this place behind. While some channelled this feeling into a change of council leadership, others feel too disaffected to take any sort of interest in the democratic process.<\/p>\n

One elderly woman in the town centre tells us she “couldn’t care less” who won. Another pensioner, Maureen Parr, says she had no idea about the results before popping into a caf\u00e9 this morning.<\/p>\n

She adds: “I don’t really follow politics. I don’t know much about politics really. I watch the news on a morning but after that I don’t really watch through the day.<\/p>\n

“I think probably people wanted change and are hoping (Reform) are going to do something different to what Labour’s done. It depends what they’re going to do.”<\/p>\n

Forty-five year old Sarah Emmett sums up a general feeling of disillusionment in politics by adding: “They all promise everything and then deliver nothing. They promise the world but deliver nothing at the end of it. I know it’s my opinion, and it’s most of my family’s opinion. They’re all the same.”<\/p>\n

Prior to their electoral humbling, the Labour group here in St Helens will have pointed to the major ongoing redevelopment of St Helens Town Centre as evidence that they were trying to improve things.<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old Hardshaw Shopping Centre has been pulled down and work is underway on the construction of a new modern market hall, a 120-bed Hampton by Hilton hotel, apartments, townhouses and retail spaces, all due to be completed by the end of the decade. Nearby a \u00a335m new transport interchange is being created.<\/p>\n

But was it too little too late from a party that has taken its votes in this town for granted for too long? Or did the unpopularity of the Labour Prime Minister override any good work that has gone on here?<\/p>\n

One St Helens Labour source tells the ECHO it is a bit of both.<\/p>\n

“We promised town centre regeneration for ten years, it’s only just started. Reform came in and filled the void Labour’s lack of story created. Essentially Labour vacated the pitch and then the national Labour Party<\/a> repeated the same mistakes.”<\/p>\n

The source is clear that Starmer’s government has “cemented the local decline” of the party here, adding: “The high street and businesses are failing after the failure to reform business rates as promised. Starmer and Reeves have the same robotic way of talking, they make Farage appear authentic.”<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Murphy in St Helens town centre today(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Back on the streets of the town centre and one young woman, aged 28, literally jumped for joy when she heard Reform had won the council.<\/p>\n

She then confessed she did not know anything about the party’s policies, adding: “They’re all corrupt in my opinion. It’s all for their own political gain. They don’t really care about the people. The people care about the people and that’s why we’re all fighting all the time. Everyone’s divided and there’s no government to guide us.”<\/p>\n

Perhaps the acute sense of disenfranchisement felt here in St Helens is best summed up by Travis Anthony, sitting on a bench outside the Town Hall with a B&M bag in hand.<\/p>\n

He admits he he has not voted in an election since 1987, when Margaret Thatcher returned to office. He explains: “Maggie got in and shut all the mines down. I just thought I can’t be bothered. They’re all in it for themselves.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s all about money. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer and it doesn’t matter who’s in. I’ve seen it most of my life. It doesn’t matter who’s in.<\/p>\n

“I don’t care, I really don’t.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the tired people of St Helens, it felt like a change was needed, but whether Nigel Farage’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,89136,50,229,2685,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-575963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-local-elections","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-st-helens","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}