Last week Reform UK won majority votes in County Durham’s local elections, and were a close second with Northumberland County Council, changing local politics across the region.
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00:00It's been described as nothing short of a political earthquake in the North East.
00:05As voters in County Durham and Northumberland sent a powerful message in last week's local elections.
00:11Change is not just coming, it's already arrived.
00:14In County Durham, Reform UK pulled off a stunning and historic victory,
00:19seizing control of the council with a dramatic gain of 65 seats.
00:23That result didn't just unseat Labour, it dismantled decades of political tradition.
00:28Labour, which held 52 seats just four years ago, has been reduced to just four.
00:33It was a collapse few saw coming, and for some, it's a moment of reckoning.
00:38Reform's rise was fast and fierce as the party's turquoise wave, as Nigel Farage calls it, swept across the region.
00:45As the results poured in, Farage stood among supporters in Newton Acliffe and declared,
00:50we had the Labour party for lunch and wiped out the Conservatives.
00:54Many of the newly elected councillors are entering public office for the very first time,
00:59propelled by a campaign that targeted frustration with rising costs, council inefficiency and disillusionment with national politics.
01:07Among them is Robert Potts, a former Conservative who defected to reform in 2024.
01:13Speaking after his win, he promised transparency, saying,
01:16we're going to open up the books and look at where every pound is going.
01:20If it can't be done better, cheaper, or it doesn't need to be done at all, it won't be done.
01:25The mood inside the councillors was electric and emotional.
01:29As reform's vote piles grew, candidates from Labour and the Conservatives looked on in disbelief.
01:34One Labour staffer was reportedly in tears.
01:37A losing councillor called the day a disaster.
01:40It wasn't just defeat, it was a rout.
01:42The Liberal Democrats held onto 14 seats and 12 independents were elected,
01:46including former council leader Amanda Hopgood.
01:49She vowed to keep a close eye on reform's actions, saying,
01:53they've made a lot of big promises, now they've got to show they can follow through.
01:57We'll be watching closely.
01:59Here's what locals in Durham think about the results in this recent local election.
02:04And with United Reform, they're just a protest party.
02:09They don't seem to have, er, they've got no real agenda.
02:15I mean, the one thing I heard recently, yesterday, was that apparently,
02:19where they control councils, they're actually going to take down the Ukrainian flag.
02:24Yeah, I voted for them.
02:26It was my first time voting though.
02:29I voted that, so I'm happy with it.
02:31But they all lie anyway.
02:34I feel like it's worrying because some of their policies
02:39seem to me to be inherently racist, to be honest.
02:43Erm, I think, I understand why they've won,
02:47because people were very unhappy with, er, the Conservatives.
02:53And Labour have come in, and I, we haven't seen a great deal of positive change.
02:58Yeah, 새로운 charmals.
03:08But don't resist this.
03:10It's hard to change.
03:11I wasn't sure.
03:12And we'd be ready for a little change.
03:15Sometimes you don't get mad at all.
03:17And then, получится is a big deal ofefforts
03:19that go towards city legislatures.
03:21And it's hard to change.
03:23If not, whatever they mean,
03:24we wouldn't play up,
03:25because there's aない way there than the West Ham not beingient.