'Reform revolution' and 'Prince Harry bombshell'

Nigel Farage holds up six fingers as he grins widelyImage source, Reuters
  • Published

Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage appears on several of the front pages. The Daily Telegraph shows him holding up six fingers, external, the margin of victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, with the headline "the six votes that shook politics". The Daily Mail calls Reform's success a "stunning breakthrough", external that has sent "shockwaves through the political establishment". The Financial Times, external says the results mean the Conservative Party is "losing a fight to the death".

Writing in the Times, Sir Keir Starmer insists, external Labour is moving the country in the right direction but says: "am I satisfied with where we are? Not even close." The Daily Mirror's editorial offers this thought: "Mr Farage claims to stand up for ordinary people", it says, "but Reform's policies will do harm. To beat him, Labour must become Labour". The Sun's political editor, Harry Cole, writes, external: "Nigel Farage not only tipped over the apple cart of English politics, he set it alight for good measure. And the fumes are choking both Downing Street and the Tories."

The i, external reports that "doubts are emerging" within the Conservatives about how long Kemi Badenoch will be given to prove herself as leader. Writing in the Mail, the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, external calls Badenoch "interesting and impressive", and predicts voters will return to the Tories. He argues that "the brute facts of electoral maths, and the first-past-the-post system, mean there will be only one way to expel this Labour government - and that is to vote Conservative".

The Guardian's sketch writer, John Crace, external, sees problems ahead for Reform: "the danger for Farage is that with success comes obligations. An expectation to deliver. A problem Nige has never encountered before. He'd only ever carped from the sidelines."

Prince Harry speaks to the BBC

The Duke of Sussex appears on many of the front pages too. "Harry's lost it" is the headline on the front page of the Sun, external, which says Prince Harry launched an "incendiary attack" on his family in his interview with the BBC. The Mirror's headline is "Dad won't talk to me", external. The Daily Express calls the prince "desperate", external, while the Times editorial urges him, external to "find a more useful role than that of professional victim".

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