News

Original reporting and the latest political headlines from across the UK.

Our Articles

Mainstream Headlines

Filtering by:Tag: reform×Source: The Guardian Politics×Clear all

83 headlines found — Page 5 of 7

The Guardian Politics5 Mar 2026

Starmer is facing a cocktail of dissent that is growing ever more potent

After the Greens’ win in Gorton, the prime minister needed to come out swinging. Instead, he sent a letter But for the Iran crisis, Labour’s first major policy announcement since the party’s calamitous defeat in the Gorton and Denton byelection would have been arguably the biggest political story of the week. Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, pressed ahead with what is intended to be the party’s full-throated answer to the competition it faces from Reform UK as she declared an end to permanen

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics5 Mar 2026

Wales Senedd elections are a ‘referendum’ on Starmer, claims Farage

Party leader and Welsh counterpart launch Reform UK manifesto in Newport UK politics live – latest updates Nigel Farage has described May’s Senedd elections as a “referendum” on Keir Starmer, as Reform UK gears up to battle Plaid Cymru for the chance to end a century of Labour dominance in Wales. Launching Reform’s election manifesto in Newport on Thursday alongside the party’s newly appointed Welsh leader, Dan Thomas, Farage said: “It’s a Welsh election, but I’m afraid, whether you like it or

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics5 Mar 2026

Crypto investor based in Thailand donates further £3m to Reform

Christopher Harborne’s gift is latest to party’s election war chest and comes amid calls for political donations to be capped UK politics live – latest updates Christopher Harborne has donated another £3m to Reform UK on top of his record £9m last summer. Nigel Farage’s party, which has been topping the polls for more than a year, brought in a huge £5.5m in the last quarter of 2025. It also included a £200,000 donation from JC Bamford Excavators – traditionally a Conservative donor – which als

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics4 Mar 2026

Want to stop Farage with your vote? At the moment you can’t – and Starmer must fix that | Polly Toynbee

The PM’s in-tray is overflowing. But he can’t afford to neglect the real issue that is distorting our politics and the way we live At home and abroad, Labour and its leader are under siege. Though the Gorton and Denton result is history now, the repercussions roil his party and underpin the fight for its future. Abroad, the policy rift within the Labour tribe is just as bad, with the fear that the party will be dragged backwards into the wreckage of another illegal war in the Middle East. Yet ag

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics3 Mar 2026

Most Reform UK members believe non-white British citizens should be forced or encouraged to leave, poll finds

Nigel Farage’s attempts to appeal to centre-ground voters may cause tension in his party, according to Hope Not Hate More than half of Reform UK members believe non-white British citizens born abroad should be deported or encouraged to leave, according to the first publicly available poll of those in Nigel Farage’s party. The findings come as the Reform leader attempts to court centre-ground voters while facing pressure from his right-flank, including a hardline new party launched by Rupert Lowe

ReformCrimeRemigrationRupert Lowe
The Guardian Politics2 Mar 2026

UK politicians are in a race to the bottom – but there is a simple, unexpected way to help refugees | Zoe Williams

The home secretary is seeking to make refugee status temporary. Let’s go in the opposite direction and fight for an essential right Nigel Farage is worried about democracy. Specifically, he’s worried about his Reform party losing the Gorton and Denton byelection, feeling that they are the victim of “sectarian voting and cheating”. Sectarian voting is a peculiar little concept: if it means “everyone sharing the same belief system has voted the same way”, isn’t that all voting? Is it a problem if

PoliticsImmigrationReform
The Guardian Politics2 Mar 2026

Farage emulating ‘his hero Trump’ in deriding byelection results, says new Green MP

Reform leader says without evidence that his party’s candidate came first among UK-born voters, as Hannah Spencer takes seat in parliament Nigel Farage has been accused of Donald Trump-style election denial by the Green party’s new MP for Gorton and Denton, after he claimed her Reform rival “came first” among British-born voters in last week’s byelection. Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England last week after winning 14,980 votes,

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics2 Mar 2026

Why the fightback against Reform must involve the middle-aged, fed-up workers of Britain | Gaby Hinsliff

Millions of people aged 50 to 64 are out of work – sidelined by sickness, care duties or ageism. If Labour can’t convince them they’re a priority, Farage will step in Penny Lancaster was 50 when she retrained as a special constable. Wrangling Saturday night drunks and shoplifters might seem an odd fit for the ex-model and wife of Sir Rod Stewart; she got the idea after making a Channel 4 show in which she temporarily swapped jobs with a police officer. But to Lancaster, who has previously disclo

DefenceReformCrime
The Guardian Politics2 Mar 2026

Welsh Labour leader begins party’s uphill battle for Senedd victory

Eluned Morgan focuses on party’s ‘distinctive identity’ as it faces twin threat of Plaid Cymru and Reform UK The leader of Welsh Labour, Eluned Morgan, has said her party is a patriotic protector of her country as she tries to fend off the twin threats of Plaid Cymru from the left and Reform UK from the right. Launching Welsh Labour’s Senedd election campaign, the first minister said: “Welsh Labour will always be proud to be patriots and to stand up for our country. I’ve always been a patriot.

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Burnham would ‘probably’ have won byelection, says Labour deputy leader

Lucy Powell calls for party to make more use of Greater Manchester mayor after Gorton and Denton defeat Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour’s deputy leader said as she called for the party to make more use of the Greater Manchester mayor. Labour fell to third in the previously rock-solid seat on Thursday, with the Greens winning a fifth seat in parliament and Reform UK coming second. Continue reading...

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Green party’s Gorton and Denton win is wake-up call Labour needed to hear

Labour billed it as ‘two-horse race’ with Reform UK, but Greens’ media campaign, and Hannah Spencer’s authenticity, won the day From the outset of the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour strategists were desperate to say the party was on course to win, but the party’s trouncing at the hands of the Greens has made this look laughable in hindsight. Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary, sent a note to No 10 at the end of January saying it was “clearly a two-horse race” with Reform UK, and onl

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

The Guardian view on Gorton and Denton: a warning shot across Labour’s bows | Editorial

Hannah Spencer’s win was more than protest. It signalled that Labour’s moral language and coalition are up for grabs in its safest terrain The Greens have every reason to celebrate their victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection. From a standing start in a Manchester constituency, Zack Polanski’s team tripled his party’s vote to capture a seat that had effectively voted Labour in every election but one since 1906 – the year Labour was born. Labour coming third behind Reform UK is not routine m

PoliticsDefenceEnvironmentReform