Reform UK's election success has continued with victory in a Stoke-on-Trent City Council by-election.

Luke Shenton won the contest for the vacant Birches Head and Northwood seat, previously held by Labour, becoming the first Reform UK councillor in Stoke-on-Trent.

Cllr Shenton, a former Reform parliamentary candidate, polled 1,226 votes, well ahead of second place Labour candidate Maggie Bradley.

Former Lord Mayor Jean Bowers of the City Independents came third with 346 votes, while Conservative Khawar Ali was a distant fourth with 73 votes.

Thursday's by-election came two weeks after Reform stormed to a landslide victory in the Staffordshire County Council elections, where they took 49 out of 62 seats.

Cllr Shenton believes his win in Birches Head and Northwood suggests his party could see similar success in the next city-wide council elections, currently scheduled for 2027.

He said: "I think this is the beginning. This is the start of building up to the elections in 2027.

"If we can keep up this momentum, I believe we can win a majority in Stoke-on-Trent, just like in Staffordshire.

"I believe that people are sick of the two traditional parties. In Stoke-on-Trent, Labour has been the traditional, but people feel they have been let down, and so they are turning to Reform.

"If we can take control of the council, one thing we want to do is look at waste. The council is millions of pounds in debt and it keeps putting up council tax.

"We need to look at what its spending money on.

"Because people are struggling at the moment. That's the issue that kept coming up on the doorstep. But I'm going to be limited in what I can do as the only Reform councillor on the council. So I'm going to start small, helping the people in my ward with their problems."

The by-election was called after the seat's previous Labour councillor Steve Blakemore had to be disqualified after he became a city council employee. Mr Blakemore worked for Unitas, the council's housing repairs company, which was taken back in-house in April.

Labour remain in control of the city council, holding 28 of the 44 seats. The Conservatives have 13 councillors, with one City Independent, one Reform, and one non-aligned councillor.

Council leader Jane Ashworth believes the by-election result shows that the Labour government needs to do more for the people of Stoke-on-Trent.

She said: "I think this shows that people in this city have had enough of politics that do not deliver for Stoke-on-Trent. Since 2010 we've just had cuts, cuts and more cuts.

"The Labour government has delivered more funding, in addition to what we can raise through council tax, and I understand the financial situation they inherited was never going to be fixed in one budget. But it's clearly not enough."

The city council is due to have all-out elections in 2027, but this could be affected by the ongoing local government reorganisation, which may result in new local authorities being created.

Birches Head and Northwood by-election full result:

Khawar Ali (Con) – 73

Jean Bowers (City Ind) – 346

Maggie Bradley (Lab) – 449

Luke Shenton (Ref) – 1,226

REFORM GAIN FROM LABOUR

Turnout: 28.11%