Reform UK Gains Seats in British Elections

Reform UK received 14 percent of the national vote in the 2024 British parliamentary election and won five seats. Labour won a parliamentary majority with 34 percent of the vote. The party also gained control of local councils in areas including Cornwall and County Durham.

Britain uses a first-past-the-post electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins. Reform UK support was initially spread across many districts, limiting its seat total. As support became more concentrated in certain areas, the party began winning individual constituencies.

A British parliamentary constituency contains roughly 70,000 voters on average. U.S. congressional district contains about 740,000 voters. U.S. districts, Senate races, and presidential campaigns requires more resources to build a national movement.

Reform UK gained sitting members of Parliament, councilors, and donor networks from the Conservative Party. U.S. observers have discussed whether similar conditions could develop inside the Republican Party.

The article notes that American insurgent movements have historically attempted to capture one of the two major parties rather than build a new national party. It cites Ross Perot's presidential campaigns in 1992 and 1996 as earlier examples of outsider challenges. Reform UK presented itself as an energized movement with clear grievances rather than a managerial alternative.

The party rose after years of limited success under the same electoral rules that initially worked against it.