The Labour Party has seen its support plummet in council by-elections since the General Election - with Reform UK seeing a surge in support as a result.

Analysis by the New Statesmen shows Keir Starmer's party has seen its average support in council by-elections fall by 9.8 per cent since it swept to power in the July elections.

Meanwhile Nigel Farage's Reform UK party has seen its average support in the elections up by 11 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats seeing their share rise by just 1.8 per cent.

There will be sighs of relief for the Conservatives however, with the Tories losing just 0.3 per cent of their average support - hinting that Reform is winning most of its votes from former Labour supporters.

According to Election Maps UK, there have been 157 by-elections for 160 council seats since the July 4 election.

Labour has defended 83 seats and won just 60, meaning it has 23 fewer council seats than it did at the time of the election.

Most of the seats it has lost since the election have gone to the Conservatives, with smaller numbers falling to the Liberal Democrats, Greens, SNP and Reform UK.

The Tories have defended 23 seats in by-elections since July and have won 44 contests.

Reform UK, which has no far not defended any council seats, has won five so far.

The Liberal Democrats are up just one seat, with 28 defended and 29 contests won - while the Greens have defended six seats and won eight by-elections.

Local elections are often seen by the electorate as an opportunity to give a bloody nose to the ruling party, with voters unhappy about Labour's decision to make Winter Fuel Payments means tested and changes to inheritance tax rules for farmers.

The next set of local elections in many areas, excluding by-elections, is in 2025.