Parties’ warning over ‘divisive’ Reform
HEAD TO HEAD: Daren Hale, left, and Mike Ross, centre, are urging voters to reject the politics of Nigel Farage, right
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
The two parties that have dominated city politics for the last 25 years have urged voters to reject what they describe as the “divisive” politics of Reform UK.
The warning from the Liberal Democrats and Labour comes as The Hull Story reveals Reform will contest all 19 council seats up for election on Hull City Council when voters go to the polls on May 7.
Ahead of what is expected to be one of the most consequential Local Elections in years, Councillor Mike Ross, the Lib Dem leader of the council, said: “We must not let the divisive Reform UK win in Hull again.”
Councillor Daren Hale, leader of the opposition Labour group, said: “The very people who might be considering voting Reform are the very people who would bear the brunt of their policies.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “The turquoise tsunami is coming.”
‘DIVISIVE’: Protestors gather outside a Reform UK rally at Connexin Live in Hull in February 2025
The Liberal Democrat and Labour groups at the council both have cause to fear the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, but for very different reasons.
The two established parties have been the dominant forces at the Guildhall since the early 2000s.
But that two-party power struggle could be about to change with the right-wing populists of Reform – riding high in the opinion polls and revelling in their insurgent status – vowing to contest all 19 council seats up for grabs at next month’s Local Elections.
Added to that mix is the Hull and East Riding Green Party, which also said it would field candidates in all seats for the first time at its Local Elections launch yesterday. The Greens are also flying high in opinion polls, with the party’s fortunes nationally having being transformed under the leadership of Zack Polanski. One of their candidates in the city council election is David Prescott, son of the late Labour titan John Prescott.
The Lib Dems will be defending 11 seats and Labour eight. But each head into the election from very different starting points.
For the Lib Dems, the issue is whether they can win enough seats to stay in control at the Guildhall. They have been in power in the city since 2022 but now rule by the slenderest of margins – just one seat. The Lib Dems currently hold 29 of the council’s 57 seats, compared to 23 Labour seats and five independent.
‘CRITICAL ELECTION’: City council leader Mike Ross
From a Labour perspective the challenge appears even greater and may even be existential if current voting trends continue.
Just two years ago, in the May 2024 Local Elections, Labour won the popular vote in city with 15,914 – just ahead of the Lib Dems on 15,865. But in just 12 months, by the time of the inaugural Hull and East Yorkshire mayoral election in May 2025, the party’s vote spectacularly collapsed.
On his way to winning the overall mayoral contest, Reform’s Luke Campbell topped the poll in Hull with 18,584 votes, a 39.20 per cent share of the vote, just ahead of Lib Dem candidate Mike Ross on 17,169 votes (36.22 per cent). Labour’s Margaret Pinder recorded just 7,199 votes (15.19 per cent) – a 54.76 per cent loss on the party’s vote share in Hull in 2024.
A Labour insider has sought to explain this by telling The Hull Story the party did not campaign in the mayoral elections with much enthusiasm, as to have done so would have left them open to accusations of being “hypocrites” having consistently criticised the mayoral model and the devolution deal that created it.
It’s also fair to say that in Olympic boxing hero Campbell and city council leader Councillor Ross, Reform and the Lib Dems respectively had recognisable high-profile candidates compared to the relatively unknown parish councillor Pinder.
TROUBLE FOR LABOUR: A graph showing the share of the Hull vote in last year’s mayoral election – a 54 per cent fall for Labour from the Local Elections in 2024
What may be of more concern to Labour going into the May elections is how closely the party’s fortunes locally often reflect its polling nationally.
The 2024 Local Elections took place when the national Labour Party led opinion polls and just two months before it romped to a landslide General Election win. A month ahead of the Local Elections, a YouGov national voting intention tracker had Reform leading on 25 per cent, the Greens in second on 19 per cent, and Labour in joint third with the Conservatives on 17 per cent.
The Lib Dems were fourth on 14 per cent, polling that has not changed much nationally, although the Lib Dem vote in Hull increased between 2024 and 2025.
Despite Labour’s performance in last year’s mayoral election, Councillor Daren Hale, the opposition Labour group leader at the city council, said he remained confident in defending Labour seats at next month’s elections, though he said the overall result was “difficult to call”.
“I have to say knocking on doors it’s a lot better than you might think,” he said. “The Liberals are defending 11 seats; Labour eight – if we both have a bad night, who can lose more, them or us?
‘EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR’: Labour group leader Daren Hale
“My view is the seats we are up [for election] in are probably our strongest seats. In the majority of our seats I think we are going to win.
“There’s a risk or chance they [Reform] will win seats; that’s because of what recent by-elections and polling nationally is telling us. There’s a risk it [the council] will go into no overall control. It’s everything to play for.”
He added: “I think if you’ve got really strong local candidates with a proven record of achievement on the ground I think you can resist a Reform surge in those seats. I think Hull is difficult to call.”
Coun Hale suggested people considering voting Reform because they feel “left behind” by the established parties may be adversely affected by Reform policies if they gain power.
“I think many people don’t understand their agenda,” he said. “People are responding to an agenda of soundbites on immigration, on being left behind.
FULL SLATE: The Greens will field candidates in every seat for the first time
“What they don’t realise is those very people they will be putting their faith in are against workers’ rights and would also restore the two-child benefit cap and do away with the minimum wage for young people.
“The very people who might be considering voting Reform are the very people who would bear the brunt of their policies, and that’s before you start talking about the privatisation of the NHS and the NHS being an insurance-based system.”
For Coun Ross there is no doubting what is at stake on May 7. “May’s election is the most critical one Hull has faced,” he said.
“In these elections the people of Hull are being offered a real choice. A choice between electing hard working local champions or the division and fear offered by Reform UK.
“We must not let the divisive Reform UK win in Hull again.
“The local Lib Dem team has a positive record here in Hull, and so many people are backing us to keep delivering for the city.
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS: Matt Jukes, Hull City Council chief executive and elections returning officer, publishing the Notice of Election in the Guildhall
“It’s clear Labour has failed us, in Government they’ve completely lost their way. Support for them has completely collapsed. Whether that is in opinion polls or at the ballot box, support for Labour is disappearing fast.
“It’s also clear that Reform UK are not the answer. After the election of a Reform UK mayor last year, people have nothing to show for it. Nationally Nigel Farage continues to parrot Donald Trump and talk our country down. And where Reform UK run councils and have councillors, it’s chaos. A number of Reform politicians have resigned or quit and they’ve broken promises not to raise taxes.
“In Hull this May, no matter where you are, the Liberal Democrats are the only way to stop Reform UK and get a councillor that works for you. If you want someone who cares for your community and will stand up for you, back your Liberal Democrat candidate this May."
A spokesman for Reform UK said: “Labour and the Lib Dems have failed Hull for decades. The roads are pockmarked with potholes, violent crime is everywhere and the city has run up a staggering £875m worth of debt.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. Reform UK is delivering real change where we win seats and after our breakthrough victories last year, including Luke Campbell's mayoral win here, our momentum is surging.
“The upcoming elections are Hull's chance to reject the failing Westminster establishment and demand better. The turquoise tsunami is coming. Vote Reform UK to fix Hull and fix Britain.”
The deadline to register to vote is Monday, April 20.