Ukip loses 80% of council seats in local election hammering after lurch to far-right

Gerard Batten's party fails to capitalise on Tory collapse despite absence of Farage's Brexit Party from ballot papers

Ukip has lost around 80 per cent of the council seats it defended on Thursday, in a local election hammering following a politcal lurch to the right.

Gerard Batten’s party went into Thursday’s contest with 111 councillors and ended up with just 24, as of the 4.30pm tally on results day.

The party has mostly failed to capitalise on the collapse of the Conservatives, with its former leader Nigel Farage taking the lions share of Brexiteer support in polls with his new Brexit Party venture.

Mr Farage quit the party in December, alleging that Mr Batten had put too much emphasis on anti-Islam policies, and toxified its brand by associating with far-right personality Tommy Robinson.

Though the Brexit Party decided not to stand in local elections so that it could focus on its European Parliament campaign, Ukip does not appear to have been significantly helped by its absence.

Ahead of the elections Mr Batten apparently sought to pre-empt a poor result, pointing to the fact that the party could not find candidates for every seat.

“We will be everywhere on 23rd May,” he said, alluding to the European elections.

As results rolled in Mr Batten tried to highlight limited gains for the party in Brexit heartlands Sunderland and Derby, where it ousted a few Labour councillors. But, as the overall results show, the victories were eclipsed by heavy losses elsewhere.

Some of the biggest defeats were in its former Essex and Lincolnshire heartlands: it parted with seven seats on Thurrock council and 12 in Boston.

Ukip is now polling just around five per cent for the coming European Parliament elections – a contest it won with 26.6 per cent of the vote just five years ago.

By contrast the Brexit party hit 30 per cent in one recent survey, more than any other party. If the same showing is replicated on results day, Ukip would struggle to remain even one MEP.

Ukip has struggled to hold onto local government seats in recent elections, despite making quite substantial gains in the 2010-15 parliament.

Overall the Conservatives were the biggest loser of the night, shedding at least 970 losses according to the tally as of 4.30pm on Friday. Labour also suffered poor results, losing around 100. The Liberal Democrats and Greens both made significant gains.

But polls suggest Labour is set to do well at the European Parliament elections later this month, with most surveys putting it up and within touching distance of Ukip, with other parties trailing behind.