United Kingdom. Local elections: the far right breaks a barrier and already sees itself in Downing Street

The previously solid glass ceiling against the far right appears to be cracking in the United Kingdom. Reform UK, the successor to the Brexit Party , won more than 670 local council seats and two mayoral positions. And it narrowly snatched a parliamentary seat in Runcorn, in northwest England, from Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party (centre-left). "We can and will win the next general election," scheduled in four years, Nigel Farage told the newly elected Reform party in Staffordshire (centre) on Friday, galvanized by the victory.

It confirms the party's rise to power, having already made a breakthrough in the July legislative elections by winning its first five seats. "This is the best result achieved by a populist party of the radical right in the country," emphasizes Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. Omnipresent on social media and willingly provocative, Nigel Farage attacks both Labour and the Conservatives, who have dominated political life for decades. He also deploys his anti-immigration rhetoric, seeing it as the cause of the UK's economic decline and the poor state of public services.

Like his "friend" Donald Trump, Nigel Farage rails against taxes and public spending, and insists that he "wants to make the United Kingdom great again." And it's working. Reform attracts those disappointed by both major parties and regularly tops the polls in the run-up to a national election. Peter Sherliker, a 70-year-old retiree living in Runcorn, finds him "inspiring." After 30 years with the Conservatives, he voted for Reform, "very worried" about immigration levels and wanting "a change."

The party, keen to present a respectable image – it had to withdraw its support for several legislative candidates after racist remarks – has transformed itself into an electoral machine in just a few months, ploughing the ground. "They're very clever in the way they're moving their pawns in a town inhabited by disadvantaged white people" like Runcorn, worries Rebecca Thomas, a 44-year-old school employee, whom we met after the election.

In this town of about 61,000 inhabitants, Reform has set up its headquarters in a shopping center largely occupied by budget stores. The party, which claims more than 225,000 members, is the one that has invested the most candidates in the local election, points out Paul Whiteley, a political science researcher at the University of Essex. Nigel Farage has been omnipresent, especially in rural areas, small towns, and former industrial centers.

Reform also attracts support for its claim to defend a British identity it considers under threat, highlighting, for example, high-profile cases of child sex trafficking networks primarily organized by men of Pakistani origin. It is no longer just a protest party, says Russell Foster, a professor of politics at King's College: many consider it "their only option" in the face of the country's problems.

To the point of causing the Conservatives' demise? Representatives of the traditional right for 200 years and long in power, they experienced a new debacle on Thursday. In recent months, some of their elected officials have already jumped ship to Reform, such as the new mayor of Lincolnshire, Andrea Jenkyns. Nigel Farage has declared it "over" for them and rejects any future alliance.

But "the hardest part is just beginning," acknowledges Martin Murray, newly elected in Staffordshire and local coordinator of Reform. Between two cheers, he calls on his troops to "show their competence, because that will prove to the whole country that we are serious." Will Nigel Farage succeed in leading this new army of local elected officials, he who has repeatedly slammed the door on his previous parties? He has already ousted an MP who challenged his legitimacy. His closeness to Donald Trump could also earn him a backlash. "If one glass ceiling has been broken by Reform," another remains, judges Tim Bale, because "there are far more people who dislike Nigel Farage than those who appreciate him."