HULL – Reform UK has broken into Hull City Council for the first time, winning ten of the 19 seats contested and ending the Liberal Democrats’ overall control of the Guildhall.
The Liberal Democrats remain the largest party, with 26 councillors, but the authority is now in no overall control. Labour has 16 councillors, Reform UK has ten, with three Independent Group members and two other independents.
The result marks a major shift in Hull politics. The Lib Dems had run the council since 2022, but losses in Longhill, Sutton and Derringham left the party short of the 29 seats needed for a majority.
Labour suffered the heaviest defeat of the night, losing seven of the eight seats it was defending. Its only success came in Bricknell, where deputy group leader Sharon Hofman held her seat.
Labour group leader Councillor Daren Hale blamed the result on national politics and called for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign. He said Hull Labour councillors had paid the price for “the failures of our government in Westminster” and said the party now needed “new leadership, and a new direction”.
Reform UK’s Hull chairman Richard Kelly was among the party’s winners, taking Southcoates. He said the party would now look to build on the result in next year’s elections.
The Conservatives and Greens failed to win any seats.
Councillor Mike Ross, leader of the Liberal Democrat group and Hull City Council, said it had been a difficult contest but defended his party’s performance. The Lib Dems won eight seats, including a gain from Labour in Central ward.
Turnout across the city was 30.25 per cent.
The result leaves Hull facing a new political landscape, with the Liberal Democrats likely to attempt to govern as a minority administration and Reform UK now established as the third largest group on the council.
Image credit: https://hullguildhall.org.uk/