Reform's Essex surge fractures Conservative vote in local contests

Reform UK has consolidated support in south Essex since Nigel Farage's July 2024 election breakthrough, squeezing Conservative votes in district council races. The May 2026 Rochford District Council elections, where a single ward hosted both Stuart Belton (Conservative) and Danielle L Belton (Labour), offered an early signal of whether the right-of-centre split was continuing to benefit Labour in traditionally safe Tory seats.