Nigel Farage has declared that the Tories are “toast” following several stunning victories for Reform overnight, including Dame Andrea Jenkyns’ victory in the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral vote. Reform UK also clinched a win by just six votes in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.

Mr Farage, who called Reform the opposition to Labour, said of the Tories: “They are toast. You’re witnessing the end of a party that’s been around since 1832. It’s disappearing.”

He told Kemi Badenoch to “please stay” as Tory leader and said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is “making life easy” for him.

The Reform UK leader told Sky News: “Whether we won by six or lost by six, I was going to come to this count, support our candidate. Winning’s obviously fantastic but just think about the swing, just think about the swing.

“This is heartland Labour Party, their vote has collapsed and much of it has come to us. And that does away with the sort of media narrative that it’s just us versus the Conservatives

Mr Farage added that Runcorn and Helsby was a “very patriotic constituency” that no longer had faith in Labour.

He continued: “I promise you that the fact there are 750 young men who’ve illegally crossed the English Channel living in this constituency alone … It’s a sense of fairness and what’s right and what’s wrong, bordering, I would say, even on resentment. And we picked up on that very strongly on the doors with people who’ve voted Labour for all of their lives.”

Asked for his message to Sir Keir and Mrs Badenoch, he said: “Kemi Badenoch, please stay. I mean, please don’t resign, we want you to stay on as leader. I’ll put some money in if you like to keep you there. She’s got an impossible job, the Conservative Party is split … The Conservatives are standing in the middle of the road in terms of their own supporters and getting hit by vehicles coming both ways.

“And for Sir Keir, just keep going. You’re making life easy.”

Dame Andrea was elected for Reform UK as the first Greater Lincolnshire mayor with a majority of almost 40,000 over the Conservatives.

Speaking after being elected, she said: “What a long night. Thank you.

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“To the people of Lincolnshire, thank you for putting your trust in me. I will work tirelessly for you every day.”

Thanking Mr Farage, Reform deputy leader Richard Tice and chairman Zia Yusuf, she said: “To Nigel, to Richard and to Zia, I thank you for your friendship, for your support and getting me through these last few difficult weeks. I’m immensely proud to be part of the Reform family, so thank you for welcoming me.

“I’ve fought many elections – four general elections, my third local election – but … I’ve never experienced such negativity and soul-destroying campaigns against me like this one.

“The dirty tricks in the US politics I believe is now been imported here into Britain.”

Ms Jenkyns said her opponents “undemocratically tried to remove me from the ballot” but that she now wished them all well as it was “insignificant now”.