First lawmaker of Korean descent elected to the Welsh Parliament…Reform UK's Joshua Kim
In the local elections held on May 7 across England, Scotland and Wales, Reform UK — a party defined by a hardline stance on immigration — delivered a sweeping performance that has propelled it into the mainstream of British politics.
According to the BBC and other outlets, vote counting for England’s 136 local councils concluded on May 10. Reform UK captured 1,453 seats, roughly 29% of those contested — an increase of 1,451 seats from just two seats four years earlier. The party won outright majorities on 14 councils.
By contrast, the governing Labour Party plunged from 2,564 seats to 1,068, a loss of 1,496 seats, and the number of councils it controlled fell from 68 to 28. The Conservatives shed 563 seats, leaving them with 801. The center-left Liberal Democrats added 152 seats to reach 844, while the Green Party, focused on environmental issues, gained 440 seats to total 586.
Reform UK’s surge extended beyond England into Wales and Scotland. In the Welsh Parliament election, the party won 34 of 96 seats, making it the second-largest party after Plaid Cymru (43 seats). In the Scottish Parliament it secured 17 seats, emerging as a secondary force behind the Scottish National Party (SNP), which holds 58 seats. This is the first time Reform has gained representation in both devolved assemblies on its own.
Reform UK began life as the Brexit Party on Jan. 20, 2019, and rebranded in 2021. Its leader, Nigel Farage, 62 — often described as the “British Trump” — has adopted Trump-style anti-immigration rhetoric and pledged to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants if his party were to govern. Farage called the result “not a fluke or a protest vote,” saying, “We are witnessing a historic realignment in British politics.”
Analysts argue that the scale of Reform’s victory signals the weakening of Britain’s postwar two-party dominance and the emergence of a more fragmented, multi-party landscape. The outcome intensified political pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer: around 30 Labour MPs publicly demanded that he resign or set a timetable for leaving office.
On May 11, Starmer acknowledged public disappointment — “I know people are disappointed in the country and some are disappointed in me. I know some doubt me” — but he reaffirmed his commitment to remain in office and to “prove the doubters wrong.”
Meanwhile, Joshua Kim (Korean name Kim Seung-gyun) became the first person of Korean descent to enter the Welsh Parliament. Kim was sworn in on May 9 after being elected as Reform UK’s third candidate on the regional list for the Blaenau Gwent–Caerphilly–Rhymney region.
A schoolteacher by profession, Kim ran as Reform UK’s candidate for the Caerphilly constituency in the July 2024 UK general election but was defeated. Since the Welsh Parliament was established in 1999, no person of Korean descent had served in the Welsh, Scottish or English devolved assemblies until now.
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