Lee Anderson has become Reform UK’s first elected MP as leader Nigel Farage hailed the prospect of a “huge” General Election result.
Meanwhile, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has beaten his old party to become the independent MP for Islington North, while former Labour MP and more recently Workers’ Party leader George Galloway lost the Rochdale seat he won several months ago in a by-election.
Mr Anderson has been the party’s only MP since he defected from the Conservatives.
But his election in Ashfield as a Reform candidate marks the first time the party, which was formed in 2018, has managed to secure an MP at the ballot box.
The party had an early boost in several constituencies where they took second place, pushing the Tories into third.
An exit poll for the BBC, Sky and ITV predicted that the party could win 13 seats – higher than predictions by most polls.
However, as results started to roll in, two of those went to Labour.
The exit poll showed that Barnsley North had a 99% chance of being won by Robert Lomas but in reality he was around 8,000 votes short and Labour held the seat.
Reform dropped its support for Mr Lomas as a candidate over alleged racist comments but he still appeared as a Reform candidate on the ballot.
The poll put Hartlepool as a 91% chance of a Reform win but that seat also went to Labour.
Speaking after his victory in Ashfield, Mr Anderson told reporters he was “delighted but not surprised” about his win.
“This is the capital of common sense, by the way – people speak their mind in this area and they’ve had enough of the two mainstream parties.
“The Reform Party, people like myself, Richard (Tice) and Nigel speak the same language, in a different accent obviously, we speak the same language as the great people of Ashfield.
“So when this gig came up and I was asked to stand again for the Reform Party, it was a no brainer to be honest with you.”
Mr Farage had earlier declined to say what number of MPs Reform would classify as a win.
Meanwhile, Rochdale hopeful George Galloway thanked those in the constituency who “gave me 54 sitting days in the last parliament as their MP”.
Workers’ Party leader Mr Galloway, who received 11,508 votes and lost out to Labour’s Paul Waugh, took to X, formerly Twitter, following the defeat, writing: “I thank the people of Rochdale who gave me 54 sitting days in the last parliament as their MP.
“Big thanks to my agent, my campaign team and the thousands who voted for me today.
“We took the government party to within 1,500 votes and serve notice on Labour that we are here to stay in Rochdale.
“We will field a full slate of council candidates, establish a full-time office there, campaign to re-open the maternity ward and A&E, and keep up the pressure on Labour in the town.”
