Reform win all seats up for grabs in Hartlepool
BBCReform UK were left jubilant as they snatched Labour's majority away by winning all the Hartlepool Council seats being contested in the local election.
Just one third of the authority's seats were up for election and each of the 12 went to Nigel Farage's party.
It means the council has been left with no overall control and could see a change of leadership at the authority.
There are now 15 Reform councillors in Hartlepool, with 14 Labour and seven Independents. Negotiations will now have to take place to decide who will lead the council .
Newly elected Reform councillor Graham Harrison said the party had received a "fantastic response from everybody in the town".
He said: "I think the difference was the group that we had have not been politicians in the past, we are just people of Hartlepool and we want to do our best for Hartlepool."
Council leader Pamela Hargreaves was among the Labour councillors who lost their seats.
The Manor House ward representative said people on the doorstep told her they just could not vote for Labour as long as Keir Starmer remained in charge.
"That's very difficult to take because there isn't anything we can do about that locally," she said.
"We're investing in all the right things, we're supporting our communities, we're fixing a lot of problems that the last 14 years have left us with, but there isn't anything that we can do about the national leadership.
"That's a discussion for the parliamentary Labour Party."
She added she hoped the party would listen and take action.
The town's Labour MP Jonathan Brash renewed his call for Keir Starmer to resign after what he called a devastating night for his party.
He said: "We're seeing incredibly hardworking decent Hartlepool people who have contributed a huge amount to the town in their time as councillors losing their seats and it's absolutely no fault of their own."
