Lee Anderson, who switched from the Conservative Party to Reform UK back in March, wins Reform’s first seat of the night in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
Reform UK, which was formed in 2018 as the Brexit Party, is forecast to win 13 MPs in the UK general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice said Reform UK had benefited from a significant fall in the Conservative vote in seats the party had previously held, as well as advancing most in areas where people voted Leave in the 2016 referendum.
In an early sign of Reform UK’s success in winning over former Tory voters, the first two results of the night – in Blyth and Ashington and in Houghton and Sunderland South – saw the party beat the Conservatives by more than 4,000 votes.
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