LABOUR WINS DUDLEY COUNCIL SEAT BY TWO VOTES

Labour gained the St James's council ward in Dudley from Reform UK by two votes in a by-election. Labour candidate Caroline Reid received 874 votes, while Reform UK's Chris Chivers received 872. Figures published for the contest put Labour's vote share at 38% and Reform UK's at 37.9%. The gap between their shares was 0.1 percentage points.

In May 2026, Reform UK won the ward with 1,630 votes and a majority of 903 over Labour. The published comparison puts Labour's share 16.2 percentage points above its May result and Reform UK's 11 points below its previous share. Conservative candidate Sam Firmstone finished third with 317 votes, or 13.8%. Restore Britain's Tristian Owens received 159 votes, or 6.9%, in the party's first appearance in the ward. Green candidate Katherine Alice Poole won 79 votes, or 3.4%, with the party's share down 7.2 percentage points.

The result prompted discussion on social media about whether Restore Britain drew votes from Reform UK and the Conservatives. Reform UK MP Richard Tice said: “Vote Restore, get Labour.” One commenter wrote, “Restore are a vote for Labour”, while another argued that the party took votes from Reform UK. Nigel Farage leads Reform UK, and Rupert Lowe leads Restore Britain.