Reform UK have taken power at Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council following another major election win in Staffordshire.

The party took 27 of the 44 seats on the borough council in Thursday's local elections, bringing an end to nine years of Conservative rule.

Former Stoke-on-Trent North Tory MP Jonathan Gullis, who defected to Reform last year, is among the party's new borough councillors in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The final election result was announced at 6.30am on Friday, following an overnight count at Keele University.

While Reform candidates were celebrating, it was a less enjoyable night for Conservative and Labour candidates. The Tories ended up with 15 seats, down from the 26 they held going into the election, sending the group back into opposition.

And it was a disastrous election for the Labour group, which was reduced to just two councillors.

Conservative deputy council leader Stephen Sweeney and long-serving veteran Labour councillors John and Gill Williams were among the prominent councillors who lost their seats.

Reform's victory in Newcastle continued the party's electoral success in Staffordshire, following the landslide win in last year's county council elections. The party's deputy leader Richard Tice attended the count to congratulate Reform's newly elected borough councillors.

He believes that the result in Newcastle shows that Reform is consolidating its position in Staffordshire.

Mr Tice said: "Reform have been running the county council for a year and in contrast to some of the nonsense we've been seeing in the media, voters like what they are seeing. These elections show that they don't want less Reform, they want more Reform.

"We are the disruptors. This is a political earthquake in the Midlands, in Newcastle-under-Lyme and across the UK."

Reform took seats from both Labour and the Conservatives, including several clean sweeps in multi-member wards across the borough. Mr Gullis, who served as Stoke-on-Trent North MP between 2019 and 2024, was among three Reform councillors elected in Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe, with each polling more than 1,100 votes.

Reform's victories also included county council cabinet member Martin Rogerson's win in Talke and Butt Lane.

Cllr Rogerson said: "I just think that people want change. It's about being open and honest with the electorate. You shouldn't say you can do something if you can't, and if you can't do it tell the people why.

"We're going go into the borough council with fresh eyes. Hopefully we'll make a really good impact and provide a good financial position.

"Since our election win last year we've taken a lot of criticism, which I think sometimes is very unnecessary. But we're not going to return fire, we've got a job to do for the electorate and we're going to do it."

Members of the Reform group on the borough council will choose their leader at a meeting next Thursday. The Reform group leader will then be formally elected the new council leader at the annual council meeting on 20 May.

One of the biggest issues facing the new administration will be local government reorganisation, which is set to result in the abolition and replacement of the borough council as early as 2028. This may mean that the new borough councillors will not serve a full term.

The Tories had been in power at the borough council since 2017, having had an overall majority since 2021. While the party suffered a number of defeats to Reform, including in Mr Sweeney's Clayton ward, the Tories' vote held up well in several of its strongholds

Simon Tagg, who has been council leader since 2017, retained his Westlands seat with an increased majority. He says the Conservatives performed better at these elections than they did at the county council elections 12 months ago, where they lost eight of the nine divisions in Newcastle.

Mr Tagg added: "When we took over in 2017 the council wasn't even able to organise elections and its recycling service was a mess. We've fixed those issues, while also delivering below-inflation council tax rises for the last five years.

"We will now hold the new administration to account to make sure they keep providing quality services and good value for money."

Labour struggled across the borough, losing seats to Reform in wards such as Wolstanton, Cross Heath and Bradwell. Group leader Dave Jones narrowly held onto his Keele seat – one of only two now held by the party – defeating Green candidate Sami Islam by just 12 votes.

While the Greens failed to make a breakthrough, they appeared to taken votes away from Labour in several wards.

Cllr Jones said: "I will need to have a conversation with my residents and find out why some have gone away from the Labour Party and towards the Green Party.

"I think that national issues have played a part in these elections. But you have to remember that what affects the country affects Newcastle. The Labour government inherited a very difficult situation.

"But the best thing they have done is bring down interest rates, which makes such a big difference to people's lives with things like mortgage payments."

Final Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council election result:

Reform UK – 27 seats

Conservatives – 15 seats

Labour – 2 seats

Voter turnout across the borough was 47.76 per cent, up from 43 per cent in 2022.