Farage's populist right Reform Party wins its beach head in parliament (UPDATED) | Eastern North Carolina Now

UPDATE: With all votes counted,  Farage's Reform Party won 17% of the vote nationally and five seats in the House of Commons.  As the Conservative Party starts the process of finding a new leader, the longest serving Tory MP called for trying to bring Farage and Reform into the Conservative Party.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13606689/Tory-Reform-Nigel-Farage-Priti-Patel-Kemi-Badenoch-Suella-Braverman-Tugendhat.html

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Brexit hero Nigel Farage and his populist nationalist anti-immigration Reform Party won its beachhead in the British parliament in elections yesterday.   Reform exceeded expectations on its vote percentage with 14% of the vote, compared to the winning Labour Party which had 34%.  It beat more established parties like the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, and Green party in vote share, although because Reform's votes were more widely distributed across the country and the Liberal Democrats more concentrated, the Liberal Democrats won more seats.

Farage won his own seat of Clacton by a wide margin over the Conservative incumbent and  Lee Anderson, who had won his previous election as a Conservative and switched to Reform was easily reelected.  Reform has won at least two other seats.  They have also finished in second place in almost 100 other seats.

A split in right of center votes let Labour win an overall majority, although they would have clearly lost if Conservative and Reform votes had been cast for one party.  The Conservatives had won a thumping majority five years ago under Boris Johnson, a small "c" Conservative, but he was ousted as leader in an intra-party coup by Rishi Sunak, a more moderate type, who raised taxes, dithered on immigration, failed to cut all ties with the EU, and pushed the green agenda.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/05/nigel-farages-reform-uk-party-shocks-with-significant-gains-expected.html

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1919289/number-of-seats-tories-nigel-farage-reform-uk

https://conservativehome.com/2024/07/03/piers-mckenzie-baker-the-conservatives-need-farage-if-they-want-a-new-generation-of-voters/

Here is one of Farage's campaign videos from the election: