In a first-of-its-kind win, the Greens gained a council seat from Reform in a Derbyshire by-election on 20 January. Green candidate Lian Pizzey beat Reform’s Juliette Stevens by 1,341 votes to 1,091.
The previous Reform councillor for Horsley ward, Richard Morgan, stepped down back in November due to ill health. The by-election this triggered means that the Greens now have three county councillors in Derbyshire.
Unfortunately, the news isn’t all good. A similar by-election for Codnor, Langley Mill & Aldercar saw a Reform gain from Labour. Worse still, the ward — part of Amber Valley Borough Council – also saw the newcomer far-right Advance Party take third place.
‘People don’t want the older parties’
Before the by-election result was revealed on Tuesday, Pizzey commented that:
People are now confident in the Green Party, people who may not have previously voted for us. People are not impressed by the county council and Reform have not changed things like they said they would, and people don’t want the older parties of Labour and the Conservatives.
I think we will see more of this across the country, people choosing between Reform and the Green Party.
Derbyshire was one of the counties in which Reform party councils chose to hike taxes by the maximum amount permitted — in spite of the fact that the party has promised to find savings.
Pizzey stated that people had been “unimpressed” with Reform’s performance on the County council. He spoke about the people he’d talked to whilst out doorstepping before the by-election:
They’ve mentioned care homes, they’ve mentioned the fact that council taxes can be going up by the maximum amount and wanted… a local representative, who would actually go to Matlock and hold the Reform council to account.
I’m so pleased that the residents have been able to come out and say now we want somebody else, somebody who is going to represent us locally.
‘We’ll only see more of this’
Following the vote-count, Cllr Pizzey hailed his result as a sign that the Greens can take on Reform and win. He commented that:
The vote for the Conservatives, the vote for Labour are down significantly and we are now seeing something of a shift.
I think a lot of people in this election have decided that they are voting either Reform or they are voting for Green and I think we’ll only see more of this.
Back before the 2025 council elections, Horsley was a Conservative seat, flipping to Reform back in May. This previous right-to-right movement makes its sudden switch to the left-wing Greens all the more eye-catching.
The numbers show that there’s certainly some truth to Pizzey’s musings. The vote shares of both Labour and the Conservatives dropped in Horsley, with Labour in particular tanking to just 3.8%.
Meanwhile, Reform’s share actually rose marginally, from 35% to 35.5%. However, the Greens effectively hoovered up the loss from the two major parties.
Local vs national
The Reform candidate for Horsley, Juliette Stevens, refused to give comment to the press. In fact, Derbyshire Live reported that it made repeated attempts to contact Stevens, with party officials “intervening to prevent this happening”.
The candidates for both major parties laid the blame for their defeat at the feat of their parliamentary counterparts. Conservative candidate and borough councillor Amanda Paget said:
It is the same as I predicted. People are upset at the Conservative party nationally.
We had 14 years in Government and got things wrong towards the end.
In particular, she cited Party-gate during the Covid pandemic as emblematic of her party’s failings. She also commented that on shadow cabinet members visited to help with the by-election. By contrast, both Polanski and Farage put in appearances for the Greens and Reform, respectively.
When questioned on whether she believed Kemi Badenoch was the right choice for Tory leader, Paget stated:
I wouldn’t know, I’ve not met her.
Meanwhile, Labour candidate John Cowings has mentioned struggles distinguishing local politics from his party’s national image. He said:
Some voters have voiced their displeasure at the Government and it comes down to whether local Labour members are able to turn that around.
It is taking time for the Government to demonstrate that it is improving things, it takes time for decisions to be felt by people.
We need to respond to people of all ages and backgrounds and tackle the division being pushed by the right.
Amber Valley
In more alarming news, over in the Amber Valley borough council by-election, Reform won a seat by a notable margin. Reform candidate Dave Chambers took 595 votes – more than double Labour’s 249 for candidate Mark Howard
Labour previously held the Codnor, Langley Mill & Aldercar ward. However, the by-election was triggered when Labour councillor David Moon resigned his position.
Both the Horsley and Codnor, Langley Mill & Aldercar by-elections saw early outings for the far-right Advance UK Party. Whilst the candidate for Horsley took just 57 votes, coming second-last, the newly-formed party did significantly better in Amber Valley.
In fact, Advance candidate Alex Stevenson received 161 votes, finishing third overall. In doing so, they beat out the Conservatives, Labour and the Greens.
Advance UK launched back in September 2025. It was founded by tech billionaire Ben Habib, the former deputy leader of Reform UK. Both Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk have thrown their weight behind the far-right newcomers.
A mixed week
Overall, the wins for both the Greens and Reform — coupled with the performance of Advance in Amber Valley — make this week’s by-elections a distinctly mixed bag.
Whilst the results clearly suggest that voters are intensely fatigued with the old-guard of both Labour and the Conservatives, that frustration is turning into gains for both the left and far-right.
Perhaps the most interesting take-away is that the Greens are genuinely capable of taking seats from Reform. Whilst Reform’s share of the Horsley vote remained static, suggesting the party retained its vote new voter base, the Greens gained support seemingly from both Labour and Conservative pools.
Likewise, whilst the appearance of yet-another party of bigoted chancers on the scene is never good news, the potential to split the far-right vote between racist and racist (new) shouldn’t be underestimated.
Featured image via Bright Green Org
This post was originally published on Canary.