Reform have won their first council seat in Salford after victory in the Barton and Winton by-election.
Michael Felse won the race on April 22 with 676 votes ahead of Labour candidate Catherine Goodyer who picked up 643 ballots.
Jack Groom from the Green Party came in third with 363 votes.
Mr Felse has previous connections to Greater Manchester and was parade queen at Manchester Pride in 2011.
Reform’s victory in Barton and Winton marks a blow for Salford Labour ahead of the local elections which are being held on May 7.
Labour holds 45 out of 60 seats in the council chamber, alongside seven Conservatives, two Lib Dems, one independent, one Democratic Socialist Party councillor, one Your Party councillor, and one ReformUK seat.
Barton and Winton had previously been considered a safe Labour seat. In the May 2024 local elections, the party won a seat in the ward with a majority of more than 1,200 votes.
At the by-election count at Salford Civic Centre on April 22, Reform sources predicted that there would be ‘no safe seats for Labour’ anymore.
Councillor Felse said he was ‘delighted’ with his victory, and thanked voters for putting their trust in him.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Here we are making history in Salford as the first Reform councillor.
“It’s going to be a lonely fortnight and I’m looking forward to having many colleagues join me in Reform on May 7.”
The by-election was held after the death of former Labour councillor David Lancaster in February, who was England’s longest serving councillor.
The seat could have stayed vacant until the May local elections, but a ‘niche rule’ from 1972 means if two electors request an earlier polling day, the wish has to be honoured by the local authority within 35 days.
In this case, the person to call the early election in Barton and Winton was Lewis Croden, who is standing as a Reform UK candidate for Little Hulton, and his relative.
Croden’s move was slammed by Labour who called it a ‘waste of taxpayer’s money’ and said the early by-election in Barton and Winton could cost the council more than £20,000.
In a message to Labour, Councillor Felse said: “15 years ago Labour expelled me, and there are lots of others who are not happy with the Labour Party.
“I think they need to think about what they’re doing these days rather than me giving them advice.
“I’m very sad to say there are a lot of problems in Barton and Winton, I was actually horrified when I was walking the streets and seeing the litter, the pot holes, it’s a really problem area, and at the same time they’re sat there watching money being pumped into the [Salford Community] stadium.
“I’ve nothing against the stadium, I quite like rugby myself, but there needs to be priorities, they need to listen to the people, they know what they want, and that’s why they voted this way today – they want change, they want improvement, and that’s what we’ve got to give them.”
