REFORM UK topped the poll in South Gloucestershire in May’s West of England mayoral election.
Outspoken businessman and Brexit campaign donor Arron Banks was 5,211 votes ahead of Conservative Steve Smith, with Labour’s Helen Godwin another 1,793 votes behind when the district’s results were declared.
Reacting to his party’s overall performance, Mr Banks said: “That was a pretty epic response to be honest. Bristol and Bath should not be natural Reform territory and we aced it.
“The Greens will be disappointed they didn’t win but it was a good result for us.
“This was our least likely place to win and we came up 6,000 votes short. There is a tidal wave going on in the UK at the moment.
“We have seen Reform victory after Reform victory. It looks like Bristol liked Banksy after all. And we beat the Greens.”
The South Gloucestershire result saw the Liberal Democrats, who run the council in coalition with Labour, squeezed into fourth place with only 14.1% of the mayoral vote in the district, compared to 33.2% in the 2023 council elections.
Ms Godwin won the overall race after receiving the most votes in Bristol, where she was 2,539 votes ahead of Green Mary Page but 12,771 votes ahead of Mr Banks.
In Bath & North East Somerset, Lib Dem Oli Henman – a B&NES councillor in a district where they run the council – topped the poll with 9,942 votes.
Ms Godwin was second with 8,764 votes, 178 votes ahead of Mr Banks, with the Tories another 64 votes behind.
Bristol – the only council area where Labour came first – is the most populous area in the combined authority, making up just under half of all the people who live and vote there.
The number of people who voted in Bristol was more than twice the number in B&NES, although the turnout in all three areas was very similar at around 30%.
South Gloucestershire result:
Arron Banks (Reform UK) 19,446
Steve Smith (Conservative) 14,235
Helen Godwin (Labour) 12,442
Oli Henman (Lib Dem) 9,137
Mary Page (Green) 7,392
Ian Scott (Independent) 2,051
Total votes cast: 64,703.
Turnout: 30.1%