Great Yarmouth First, the local party chaired by Rupert Lowe, won all 10 seats it contested in the elections of 7 May 2026. It took all nine Norfolk County Council divisions in the borough of Great Yarmouth, plus a by-election for Caister South on Great Yarmouth Borough Council.
It was an early ballot-box test for the political project Lowe launched in 2025, held in his own constituency.
The nine county council divisions
The Great Yarmouth Mercury reported these winners and vote totals:
- Breydon: Michael French, 1,824 votes
- The Fleggs: Jason Hughes, 1,895 votes
- Gorleston: Barry Gravenell, 1,581 votes
- Lothingland: Jon Wedon, 1,708 votes
- Magdalen: Kevin Huggins, 1,788 votes
- North Caister and Ormesby: Glenn Hurren, 2,072 votes
- South Caister and Bure: Daniel McGrath, 1,852 votes
- Yarmouth Nelson and Southtown: Callum Ward-Kendall, 1,357 votes
- Yarmouth North and Central: Steven Grimmer, 1,533 votes
The Caister South by-election
In the borough council by-election for Caister South, Jon Wedon won 866 votes. Reform UK's Sandra Sherman-Ceesay came second with 405. Wedon won a county council seat on the same day, in Lothingland.
Rupert Lowe wrote on X the following day: "History made. We won ten out of ten seats, with overwhelming majorities in every single one. Great Yarmouth First, then we Restore Britain. A very special day."
Norfolk County Council overall
Norfolk County Council has 84 seats, and 43 are needed for a majority. The results across the county were:
- Reform UK: 40
- Liberal Democrats: 13
- Green Party: 12
- Great Yarmouth First: 9
- Conservatives: 8
- Labour: 1
- Independent: 1
Reform UK finished as the largest party but three seats short of a majority, leaving the council under no overall control. Great Yarmouth First took 4.8% of the county-wide vote while standing only in Great Yarmouth. That was enough to make it the fourth-largest group on the council.
In eight of the nine divisions Great Yarmouth First won, Reform UK came second. Reform needed three more seats for a majority.
What is Great Yarmouth First?
Great Yarmouth First is a local political party, founded in December 2025 with Rupert Lowe as its chairman. According to Wikipedia, its first application to the Electoral Commission was rejected in February 2026 as incomplete. The Commission registered it on 3 March 2026. Its leader is Jon Wedon.
It is a separate party from Restore Britain, but the two are closely linked. When Lowe relaunched Restore Britain as a national party in February 2026, LBC reported it would work as "an umbrella political party, with locally based political parties as its partners". On 29 April 2026, the Electoral Commission approved a joint description the two parties can share on ballot papers: "Restore Britain – Great Yarmouth First".
Why it matters for Restore Britain
Restore Britain had only been on the Electoral Commission's register since 20 March 2026. Great Yarmouth First gave Lowe's supporters a way to test their appeal locally, in the seat he has represented since 2024. Lowe won Great Yarmouth for Reform UK at that election with 35.3% of the vote and a majority of 1,426.
Update (September 2026): Reform UK's David Bick was formally appointed leader of Norfolk County Council on 28 May 2026, running a minority administration. The borough council's records list East Flegg councillor James Bensly, the deputy mayor, as a Conservative until 25 September 2026 and as Great Yarmouth First from 26 September, giving Great Yarmouth First two seats on the borough council. The Great Yarmouth Mercury and the BBC reported that he had joined both Great Yarmouth First and Restore Britain; see Restore Britain in East Anglia. An MRP poll published on 24 September 2026, which Restore Britain commissioned, projected that Restore Britain would win Great Yarmouth at a general election. Two independent MRPs differed: YouGov's, also published on 24 September, projected Reform UK to win the seat, while More in Common's, published on 26 September, projected a narrow Restore Britain win. See Restore Britain in the polls.
Read more in What is Restore Britain?, on the timeline, or on the Rupert Lowe page.
Sources
- Great Yarmouth Mercury: clean sweep for Great Yarmouth First (opens in a new tab)
- Rupert Lowe on X, 8 May 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: 2026 Norfolk County Council election (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Great Yarmouth First (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Rupert Lowe (opens in a new tab)
- Electoral Commission: registration PP18382 (joint description) (opens in a new tab)
- Electoral Commission: Great Yarmouth First, PP18235 (opens in a new tab)
- Great Yarmouth Borough Council: councillor record, James Bensly (opens in a new tab)
- LBC: Rupert Lowe launches Restore Britain as a party, 13 February 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Electoral Calculus: MRP poll, September 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- YouGov: MRP, 24 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- More in Common: September 2026 MRP (opens in a new tab)
- Great Yarmouth Mercury: Conservative councillor defects to Great Yarmouth First, 27 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- BBC News: Tory switch makes Labour council's biggest party, 28 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)