Fresh off his party's success in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, Nigel Farage has just been taking a victory lap while catching up with Amol Rajan over on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I think we've supplanted the Conservative Party now as the main opposition party in government," the Reform leader says.

He adds: "The message that we're getting in places where we didn't win, was that if you vote Conservative you actually get Labour."

Farage speculates that his party has "bitten quite hard" into the Labour heartland - saying that the Runcorn seat "was one of Labour's safest seats in the country".

Winning by six votes, he notes, is still a "spectacular by-election" result.

Image source, Reuters

This morning, it's the story of Reform UKpublished at 07:31 British Summer Time 2 May

07:31 BST 2 May

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from Runcorn and Helsby

Image source, Reuters

Numbers matter, facial expressions reveal. Reform’s smiles are broad here in Widnes, Cheshire, garnished with a little relief too – boy it was close.

For Labour, dejection.

This is still an emerging picture – there are plenty more results to follow later today, including in parts of England where the Liberal Democrats expect to make big gains, for instance.

But this morning it’s the story of Reform UK.

Nigel Farage’s latest party proving, so far at least, healthy opinion poll figures can translate into actual votes, actual victories. And an indication too that Reform can prove to be an equal opportunities threat to both the Conservatives and yes to Labour.

Farage though will need to adjust to a new level of scrutiny, scrutiny of a governing record.

But make no mistake, these results will shape the tone, tenor and focus of the political conversation in the months to come; the government and the Tories staring, sleep deprived, hard into the mirror and working out how to respond.

In Northumberland, it's shock and gloom for Labour - glee for Reformpublished at 07:26 British Summer Time 2 May

07:26 BST 2 May

Luke Walton
Reporting from Northumberland

The Conservatives will be the biggest party on Northumberland County Council - but Reform UK are the big winners from this result.

Reform end the night with 23 councillors, having taken a raft of seats from the Tories and even more from Labour, which finishes with just eight councillors.

The mood among Labour activists here is shock and gloom. Among Reform supporters, it was glee.

But it now probably falls to the Tories - who have a final total of 26 councillors - to build a coalition to run the council, possibly with the help of independents.

It won't be easy. And either way, the last 36 hours have marked a big moment in the county's politics.

Johanna Chisholm
Live page editor

If you're just waking up here in the UK, you'll see that we've just had a flurry of results announced.

Here's what you need to know:

• Just after 06:00 BST, Reform won in Runcorn and Helsby, in a close recount that left Labour trailing by just six votes - this is the party's first parliamentary by-election win
• Another big first for Reform was just announced in Greater Lincolnshire, where Dame Andrea Jenkyns took the party's first mayoral win
• Labour claimed victories in a trio of mayoral races in North Tyneside, the West of England and Doncaster - Reform trailed close behind in each race

• Northumberland County Council will stay under no overall control with the majority of seatsdeclared - this is the first council to announce results

And that's not all. We're still expecting more results throughout the day:

• There are two remaining mayoral contests in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and Hull & East Yorkshire
• The majority of council elections are expected to start pouring in from Friday afternoon
• More council results are expected from around 13:00, with the bulk due early evening

"What a long night," the new Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, says as she addresses the count.

She says that she is "immensely proud to be part of the Reform family", adding that the "rebuilding starts here".

She says that "inch-by-inch Reform will reset Britain to its glorious past".

"I take my hat off to our leader Farage," adding: "I know one day he will make a great prime minister".

It is time to heal, she adds, saying Reform will deliver a "once-in-a-generation change".

We've just had confirmation that Reform UK candidate Dame Andrea Jenkyns has won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty.

Johanna Chisholm
Live page editor

While we wait for the result in Greater Lincolnshire, here's a look back at Reform's narrow down-to-the-wire win in Runcorn and Helsby:

• Losing by six votes is frustrating, but a win is a win, Labour cabinet minister Peter Kyle tells the BBC after his party's dramatic loss there
• Reform's winning candidate Sarah Pochin has thanked Nigel Farage for his leadership in tightly contested battle, while the Reform leader calls it "a huge night" for his party
• The results out of Runcorn and Helsby may trigger a bitter debate within Labour, our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman writes

• Sir John Curtice crunches the numbers coming out of the recent count and draws out that this is a big moment for Reform - one that will be hard for Labour to argue as anything other than a serious blow

The result in the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral race is imminent now all nine council areas have declared, our reporter at the count tells us.

Apart from North Lincolnshire, all have voted Reform by a large margin.

The BBC has been predicting since just before 04:00 BST that Reform will win the mayoralty.

A remarkable performance from Reformpublished at 06:37 British Summer Time 2 May

06:37 BST 2 May

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Image source, Reuters

In a sense, this is a by-election where the result has told the story of the night.

The big question we were asking ourselves was: are Reform posing a major challenge to the traditional dominance of British politics by Conservatives and Labour? Is that challenge really there?

And I think we now know that the answer to that question is yes.

That's most obvious after the result of the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, albeit won narrowly.

But let's just bear in mind that the Reform share of the vote - at just over 38% - matches the best-ever performance that Ukip ever achieved at a by-election, apart from a couple of occasions where the local Tory MP had defected to the party and then stood again.

As I said earlier, by my calculation, there have only been 17 previous by-elections in which a majority as big as Labour's was - around 35% - has actually been overturned in a parliamentary by-election.

So Reform's performance is quite remarkable.

We've just had some comments from Labour minister Peter Kyle - now we have a Labour spokesperson's reaction to Reform's win.

For Labour, "the shock is that the Conservative vote has collapsed. Moderate voters are clearly appalled by the talk of a Tory-Reform pact".

Meanwhile, the Conservatives say Keir Starmer has been "roundly rejected" and Labour MPs will "rightfully question his leadership".

A spokesman says "this result is a damning verdict on Keir Starmer’s leadership which has led to Labour losing a safe seat".

Image source, PA Media

The first council in this year’s local elections has been declared.

Northumberland County Council will stay under no overall control after the majority of seats have been declared.

The Conservatives currently have the most, but with Reform very close behind.

"It's frustrating," Labour cabinet minister Peter Kyle tells the BBC after his party's dramatic loss to Reform in Runcorn.

But, he says, a win is a win - and he congratulates the new MP, Sarah Pochin.

He says the circumstances that led to the by-election - the former Labour MP Mike Amesbury was convicted for punching a constituent - were clearly a "difficult" thing.

"I understand why a message like this would want to be sent," he says.

Runcorn result may start bitter debate within Labourpublished at 06:16 British Summer Time 2 May

06:16 BST 2 May

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

"On every door it was the same story — winter fuel and PIP."

Those were the words of one disconsolate Labour campaigner I just spoke to as they emerged from the Runcorn and Helsby count.

This is undoubtedly a great result for Reform UK which suggests their polling surge is real, and then some.

It also may prove the start of a bitter debate within Labour about some of the most controversial decisions the Starmer government has made in its first 10 months.

In her victory speech, Reform's Sarah Pochin pays tribute to the party's "great leader" Nigel Farage, who she says inspired her to "stand up for this country".

The people of Runcorn and Helsby have spoken, Reform's first female MP says, thanking those "brave enough to put a cross against my name on the ballot paper".

She adds: "I will do my very best for all of you... regardless of how you voted and I will be accessible to you all."

The former Conservative councillor overturned a 14,696 Labour majority to take the Cheshire seat for Reform.

The victory here will inspire the rest of the country, she says - adding that Reform has made history.

We're now hearing from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage after his party won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.

"It's been a huge night for Reform, one or two near misses in the mayoral contests, but a huge night for Reform," he says.

He says his party takes on the responsibility that comes with winning elections "with glee".

This is a big moment for Reform - and a serious defeat for Labourpublished at 06:05 British Summer Time 2 May

06:05 BST 2 May

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Reform's success in the Runcorn by-election is a big moment for the party.

In winning 38.7% of the vote, the party has matched the highest share of the vote for any Eurosceptic party in a by-election ever (Heywood and Middleton 2014), other than in the two occasions in 2014 when a defecting Tory MP won in UKIP colours.

Meanwhile, there are only 17 previous by-elections in which a majority as big as the 35% majority Labour enjoyed has been overturned.

It will be difficult for Labour to argue that this was anything other than a serious defeat for the party.

Image source, Reuters

The recount in Runcorn and Helbsy has declared Reform's Sarah Pochin the winner.

There were just six votes in it.

Nigel Farage is at the count in Runcorn with his candidate Sarah Pochin - and says he's "confident" about the result. He certainly looks happy - as the picture above shows.

We're hearing now that a result in the by-election of Runcorn and Helsby is due any moment now.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest, and you can stream the announcement by pressing watch live at the top of this page.

More now on the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, where a recount is under way after the initial count left just four votes between Reform UK and Labour.

Acting returning officer Stephen Young says a full recount has “thrown out a number of ballot papers people are suggesting are doubtful”.

Candidates and agents have been called to review the ballots.