Local elections in England this week are a key test for Nigel Farage. The hard-right politician who helped drag Britain out of the European Union wants to displace the Conservatives as country’s main party on the right,

Council seats are up for election across Tory heartlands and Nigel Farage is looking to gain hundreds of them.

The upstart Reform UK party has emerged as a serious contender in British politics. The anti-immigrant populist movement has overtaken the main Conservative opposition to jostle with the ruling Labour Party for the lead in opinion polls,