'This is a whole different politics,' Farage tells Sky News after by-election win We are hearing live on Sky News from Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, following their by-election victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. Asked for his reaction to the win, he tells our chief political correspondent Jon Craig: "Winning is obviously fantastic, but just think about the swing, think about the change - this is heartland Labour Party. Their vote has collapsed, and much of it has come to us. "And that does away with the media narrative that it's somehow just us versus the Conservatives. It's not - this is a whole different politics." Farage attributes the swing to his party to "loss of confidence" in Labour, and a sense that the governing party doesn't stand for "patriotic" values. He also says the fact 750 people who crossed the English Channel on a small boat are being housed in the constituency has created a feeling "bordering on resentment". Reflecting on the night's results more broadly, the Reform UK leader says there were "some near misses in mayoral contests", but he says they were in "old Labour area". "We are smashing into the Labour vote in many parts of the north," he insists, and says Durham will be "the acid test" for them. Asked for his message to the Tory leader, Farage replies: "Kemi Badenoch - please stay. Please don't resign. We want you to stay on as leader. I'll put some money in if you like, to keep you there." More seriously, he says she has "an impossible job" keeping together a party that has "split". And to Sir Keir Starmer, his message is: "Keep going, you're making life easy." On a wider point, Farage says this result shows that "if you vote Conservative, you get Labour", and he insists his party is now the opposition to the government.