Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats stormed to victory in a set of council elections.

In a night where the headlines were dominated by Plaid Cymru’s by-election win in Caerphilly, Nigel Farage’s party stormed to a victory in Portsmouth while Sir Ed Davey’s party saw massive success in Birmingham and Somerset.

Labour were able to fight off competition from Reform and the Greens in Colchester, while the Tories clung on in Cambridgeshire.

GB News has dissected the results of each by-election and what they mean for the state of each council.

Paulsgrove (Portsmouth City Council)

Starting on the south coast and Reform UK won a landslide victory in the Paulsgrove by-election on Portsmouth City Council.

The seat became vacant following the resignation of former Portsmouth Independent Party (PIP) councillor Brian Madgwick.

Last month, all PIP councillors defected to Reform UK, boosting the party’s presence on the council.

Joe Standen won 1,770 votes, with the Conservative candidate Thomas Hoare finishing second on 311.

Labour’s Sydna Phillips got 289, with the Liberal Democrat Michelle Jenny Simmons on 239. Green Party candidate Georgina Ayling finished in last on 143 votes.

A total of 2,752 votes were cast from an electorate of 9,926, resulting in a 27.8 per cent turnout.

Mr Standen told Portsmouth Echo: “I’ve formerly served in the military, I’ve lived a life of service, and now I’m lucky enough to serve the people of Paulsgrove.”

The political make-up of Portsmouth City Council is now: Lib Dem 19; nine for Labour; seven for Reform; four for the Conservatives, two for the Portsmouth Independent Party and one Independent councillor.

Sir Ed Davey’s party retains a minority control of Portsmouth City Council.

The ward is based in the Westminster constituency of Portsmouth North, formerly held by Tory bigwig Penny Mordaunt who lost her seat at last year’s General Election to Labour’s Amanda Martin.

Moseley (Birmingham)

Moving to the West Midlands now, and the Liberal Democrats won the Moseley seat off Labour on Birmingham City Council.

The by-election in the ward in the south of the city was called after the sudden death of councillor Kerry Jenkins.

Philip Mills won in Moseley ward by 485 votes, with the Labour candidate Stephen Pihlaja finishing second on 1,149.

Your Party backed candidate Carol Williams came third with 923, with the Green’s came fourth and Reform UK fifth.

Councillor Mills said: “After the years of incompetence and failures, it is clear that it is the Liberal Democrats who are bringing the fight to an incompetent and worn-out Labour-run council.”

Labour currently has 56 seats on the 101-seat authority, with the Conservatives on 22 and the Liberal Democrats on 13.

At Westminster, the ward falls into the Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley constituency, where Tahir Ali retained the newly-created seat for Labour with a majority of 5,656 against Independent pro-Palestinian candidate, Shakeel Afsar.

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Dunster (Somerset)

Another Liberal Democrat gain, this time in their traditional stronghold of Somerset as Cara Strom won the Dunster seat on the village on the edge of Exmoor.

Councillor Strom won the seat for Sir Ed Davey’s party with 1,142 votes. Jonathan Rollason for Reform UK was in second on 666 votes, James Bellamy for the Conservatives in third on 449 votes and Terrence Ledlie for Labour on fourth on 44 votes.

Reacting to the result, Councillor Strom said: “We are working with the cards that have been handed to us by Government, and under challenging conditions we continue to do our best to deliver for local people.”

The turnout was 32.2 per cent.

Lib Dem MP Rachel Gilmour won back the corresponding Tiverton and Minehead constituency at the General Elections from the Conservatives with a majority of 3,507 over the Tory candidate, Ian Liddell-Grainger.

Glastonbury (Somerset) 

Sticking with Somerset, and there was more good news for Sir Ed Davey’s party as Ewan Cameron held the Glastonbury ward for the Lib Dems in Glastonbury after receiving 882 votes.

The by election was called after the death of Councillor Nick Cottle earlier this year.

Henry Warne for Reform finished in second on 523 votes, Lillith Osborn for the Conservatives was third on 506 votes, Jonathon Cousins for the Green Party in fourth on 480 votes and Gregory Chambers for Labour on 35 votes.

Fellow Liberal Democrat Councillor Oliver Patrick wrote on social media: “I am absolutely thrilled that Ewan won the Glastonbury by-election last night, which was called following the death of much-loved colleague Councillor Nick Cottle, who was the chairman of our planning committee east.

“There are many things to take away from these results, but one thing’s for sure straight off the bat: the voters are still backing us, the Lib Dems, to be their local champions in the south west, and Reform is not invincible.”

The current composition of the council after these two by-elections is: Liberal Democrats 62, Conservative 32, Labour five, Green Party five, Independent four and Reform UK on one.

At last year’s General Election, Liberal Democrat Sarah Dyke won back the corresponding Glastonbury and Somerton seat off the Tories with a majority of 6,611.

New Town & Christ Church (Colchester)

In a night where Labour’s vote share collapsed in Wales, there was one bright spot for Sir Keir Starmer’s party as they held on in New Town & Christ Church ward in the south of Colchester.

Labour’s Richard Bourne was elected with 800 votes, with the Liberal Democrats’ Chantelle Whyborn in second with 657 votes

Reform UK’s James Child came third with 600 votes with Alex McCormick from the Green Party in fourth on 401 votes. Angus Allan from the Conservatives finished in fifth on 200 votes.

Councillor Bourne said: “I appreciate there’s a lot of work to be done as the council itself will only be there for a short while. One thing I would like to focus on is the mechanisms and institutions that will arise with the new council.”

The council has been under no overall control since 2008, with 19 Conservative councillors and 14 Labour councillors.

It is currently run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration with occasional support from the Labour Party and the Green Party.

Pam Cox stood down from the seat to focus on her work as the MP for Colchester.

At last year’s General Election, Ms Cox beat Olympic Rower and Conservative candidate James Cracknell with a majority of 8,250 to become the first Labour MP for the town since 1945.

Milton & Tamarside (Torridge)

In Devon, Nigel Kenneally won the Milton & Tamarside by-election, gaining the seat for the Liberal Democrats over an independent council.

Mr Kenneally, who is currently a Councillor for Holsworthy Town Council, won the seat on 428 votes for Sir Ed Davey’s party.

Reform UK’s John Watson came in second on 355 votes, with Conservative candidate Evan Williams in third on 191 votes.

Independent candidate Mark Marriott came in fourth on 101 votes with Tracey Beresford from the Greens in last on 67 votes.

The turnout was 33 per cent.

The ward is located in Torridge and Tavistock constituency, which has been held by former Attorney General Sir Geoffrey Cox since 2005.

Whittlesey North West (Fenland)

Last but not least, the Conservatives managed to hold on to the ward in Fenland District Council, just to the east of Peterborough.

Alec Branton, from Kemi Badenoch’s party, won the seat on 483 votes, ahead of Reform UK’s Kevin Marston on 346 votes.

Independent candidate Martin Curtis came third on 127 votes, wile Labour’s Theresa Okogwa came last on 60 votes.

The turnout was 27.2 per cent.

The Conservatives have controlled Fenland Council since 1999, maintaining a healthy majority.

At Westminster, the North East Cambridgeshire seat is represented by senior Tory and former Health Secretary Steve Barclay.