Reform UK gain seats in North East Lincolnshire
Sarah Sanderson / BBCNorth East Lincolnshire Council remains under no overall control, despite Reform UK winning almost all of the seats being contested in the borough.
The party won a further 14 of the 15 seats available. The Conservatives, who had run the council as a minority administration since 2025, lost nine seats.
Labour suffered a four-seat loss, with the Independents losing one and the Liberal Democrats retaining the remaining seat on Thursday.
Conservative group leader Philip Jackson said he had been left "absolutely devastated" by the results.
He added: "I think this is something that's happening nationally.
"There's no doubt, if you look up and down the country at the results Reform is doing a similar thing."
Jackson said he felt voters had turned to Reform UK because they "haven't realised the difference between local and national issues".
"I suspect some of these Reform councillors will think that they've got all sorts of powers as a local councillor which, in reality, they don't have."
"All I can say is welcome to chaos."
Sarah Sanderson / BBC
Reform UK councillor Oliver Freeston retained his seat in the Croft Baker Ward.
Freeston was the youngest elected councillor in 2018 at the age of 18 when he was standing for the Conservatives.
He defected to Reform UK in 2024 and stood as the party's parliamentary candidate for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, but came second.
Freeston said local people had voted for his party because they "felt forgotten about, they felt ignored".
"They felt as if the political class didn't properly understand the everyday problems that we face," he added.
"But people like me, people like my colleagues who have stood, we understand it because we live it."
Freeston said Reform UK would look to improve North East Lincolnshire by cutting council waste and supporting local businesses.
Sarah Sanderson / BBCDespite losing four seats, Labour became the second largest party within the authority, and now has 11 councillors.
Local Labour Group leader Emma Clough said the result had been "disappointing" and said her party had lost out on because of "frustration at national level and frustration at local level".
She said: "We've had things like Corporation Bridge that's been closed for a long time. We've had delays on regeneration projects.
"It's everything that people see, feel and touch in their day-to-day lives that I think they're feeling quite frustrated with."
Clough said she hoped to win people back by "continuing to work really hard and by holding people to account".
The make-up of the North East Lincolnshire Council is now:
- Reform UK: 14 seats
- Labour: 11 seats
- Conservatives: 10 seats
- Liberal Democrats: 3 seats
- Independents: four seats
Analysis by Sarah Sanderson, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire political reporter
North East Lincolnshire Council continues to be under no overall control but the political balance has shifted.
Despite losing control of the council in May 2024, the Conservatives continued to run the local authority as a minority administration as the largest party with 18 seats.
People living here have now decided to lend their votes elsewhere.
Reform UK defended one of their seats and took a further eight from the Tories, four off Labour and one off an Independent.
The Lib Dems managed to defend their one seat which was up for election with long-standing councillor Steve Beasant, who's 73-years-old, holding on in the West Marsh Ward.
It means Reform UK is now the largest party on North East Lincolnshire Council with 14 seats.
Not enough to take overall control, but enough to make waves and turn the political tide in this area.
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