Reform UK's surge across Greater Manchester as Nigel Farage's party bags massive share of votes

They might not have won any seats in Greater Manchester, but following last night's General Election Reform UK now has a claim to be the second biggest political party in the region.

On a night win the Conservatives were wiped out in Greater Manchester, losing every seat - including the Tory stronghold of Altrincham - Nigel Farage's hard-right party appeared to be the biggest beneficiaries. In 14 of the region's 27 constituencies Reform edged out the more established parties to take second place.

The party picked up more than 190,000 votes across the region, compared with around 173,000 for the Conservatives. And while the Lib Dems won in Hazel Grove and Cheadle, across Greater Manchester the party picked up just under 96,000 votes.

READ MORE: General election 2024 results LIVE

Reform's best result came in Makerfield where Robert Kenyon polled 12,803 votes, only 5,399 behind Labour's Josh Simons. Mr Kenyon said: "To be where we’ve come from to where we are now is an enormous achievement."

Reform also put up a strong showing in Leigh and Atherton where George Woodward took 11,090 votes, consigning the incumbent Conservatives into third place. Mr Woodward told the Manchester Evening News the partyhad taken advantage of the 'void of the Brexiteers, Boris... popular Conservatism'.

He said: "By popular vote we are now the default opposition in the country… and we intend to hold the Labour government to account. It’s amazing really, unbelievable.

"Six months ago, we didn’t have a campaign, the seat was not established. Momentum built and we overperformed our expectations…

"I suppose it fills the void of the Brexiteers, Boris, the popular Conservatism void which exists in Leigh and Atherton. In 2019, it swung for the first