While Westminster's establishment parties tear themselves apart, something remarkable is happening across the country. Reform UK is no longer a party of protest. It is a party of government, running real councils, setting real budgets and answering to real residents. And the contrast with the chaos at the top of Labour could not be sharper.
From the Margins to the Mainstream
In the May local elections, Reform UK led the field and won more than 1,400 seats. The party now controls around 26 local councils. In Essex, Reform took control of a county council that the Conservatives had held for a quarter of a century. These are not flukes or freak results. They are the sound of a country looking for an alternative and finding one.
As a Reform councillor myself, here in Preston East, I see every day what this shift means in practice. People are tired of being told that nothing can change, that waste is inevitable, that council tax must rise forever while services get worse. They are ready for something different, and they are voting for it.
The Contrast Could Not Be Clearer
Compare that with what is happening to Labour. Having just lost Keir Starmer to resignation, the party is about to crown its next Prime Minister in a closed internal contest, with no general election and no input from the public. One movement is winning the trust of voters at the ballot box. The other is shuffling its leaders behind closed doors because it is terrified of facing those same voters.
That is the real story of British politics in the summer of 2026. The old parties are managing decline and managing each other. Reform UK is building something, council by council, seat by seat, town by town.
Governing, Not Just Opposing
Winning seats is the easy part. The harder, more important work is governing well, and that is exactly where Reform now has to deliver. Across our councils, the mission is straightforward: cut the waste, protect frontline services, keep council tax under control and put residents first. Every Reform administration knows it is being watched, and rightly so.
This is how trust is earned. Not with slogans, but with results. The British people have given Reform UK a chance to show that politics can be done differently. Our job now is to prove, in every council chamber we control, that we were worth voting for. That is a responsibility we welcome, and one the tired parties of the establishment have plainly forgotten how to carry.