UK Reform

A bitter dispute has broken out on the British right after Reform UK blamed its rival, Restore Britain, for fracturing the right-wing vote and handing a crucial local election victory to the Green Party in Dover. Nigel Farage’s party had entered the Dover District Council by-election as the favourite to capture the seat from the Conservatives. This confidence was fuelled by a dominant showing in the May 2025 Kent County Council elections, where Reform swept all seven Dover-area divisions from the Conservatives. However, in the race for the Guston, Kingsdown, and St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe ward, Green Party candidate Ingrid Dodd narrowly clinched the seat by a mere 34 votes. Both the Greens and Reform UK captured roughly a third of the total vote share. Though Restore Britain finished much further down the ballot, its support proved large enough to deny Reform UK a critical win. The Conservatives and Labour finished in third and fourth place, respectively. The thin loss triggered imm...