Labour continues by-election struggles losing seat to Reform as Nigel Farage's party sees surge of support

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage - (PA Wire)

The Labour party has continued to struggle in local by-elections, losing a seat to Reform in the latest round of council polls.

Nigel Farage's party won the Bilston North seat on Wolverhampton council from Labour during a vote on Thursday.

Anita Stanley secured 652 votes, almost 200 more than Labour who only narrowly beat the Greens. The Conservatives polled 257 votes to come in fourth.

Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf described it as a "stunning victory".

In the more than 100 council by-elections held since the July 4 general election, Labour has been defeated in about a third of the seats it was defending.

In local votes held since Sir Keir Starmer's party won a landslide victory on July 4, Labour has lost 21 councillors.

The Conservatives have gained 14. Reform has won two seats, but has also seen a handful of current councillors defect to the party in Essex and Scotland.

Commenting on the win in Wolverhampton, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: "Reform Gain. The political tsunami continues. And more defections incoming."

In other votes on Thursday, Labour held a seat on Salford council but saw their vote share drop more than 10 points.

Earlier this month, Labour lost a local by-election to the Tories in south east London amid a Conservative campaign against police station closures and the scrapping of winter fuel allowance for many pensioners.

The Conservatives saw their vote jump 12 per cent in the Eltham Town and Avery Hill of Greenwich council, while Labour was down by almost nine.

In September Labour lost a by-election to the Tories in central London amid the row over the Mayor's plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street.

The Conservatives saw their vote jump nearly nine per cent in the West End ward of Westminster council to just under 49 per cent, with Labour down by slightly more than ten per cent to 38 per cent.