The party backed by Elon Musk that battered Reform in seaside town

While Reform UK was comfortably winning seats in many parts of England, it was battered by a locally focused party in a seaside town known for its fish and chips.

Great Yarmouth First (GYF) won all nine seats it stood for on Norfolk County Council last week.

In each of them it more than doubled the vote of Reform, which surged to 40 seats but was denied an overall majority.

GYF was ultimately the result of an MP's feud with Nigel Farage. The latter had dismissed the party as "a little local difficulty".

What is GYF? And how is it connected to Elon Musk?

Standing for Reform, former Southampton Football Club chairman Rupert Lowe won the Great Yarmouth seat in the 2024 general election.

But last year he had a bitter falling out with the party, which alleged he had made physical threats to its chairman, Zia Yusuf.

Lowe firmly denied the allegations and faced no charges, but ultimately set up his own party – Restore Britain.

Placed firmly on the right, the party says it believes in policies such as low tax, small government and secure borders, promising to "deport all illegal migrants" if it gains power.

Other policies include banning the burka along with halal and kosher slaughter, and also "strengthening the teaching of our Christian heritage within national curriculum history modules".

It has been endorsed by the US billionaire and owner of Tesla, Elon Musk, who previously supported Farage.

"It will win. It must win. To Save Britain," Musk posted on X - which he also owns - days after Restore was launched.

While Restore did not stand any candidates in the local elections, Lowe also set up GYF – which falls under the umbrella of the larger party.

Lowe said he would stand GYF candidates with strong local connections in nine county council seats being contested in and around Great Yarmouth.

Their pre-election pledges included stopping housing developments, rejuvenating high streets and campaigning for better sea defences.

Before voting took place, Farage dismissed the challenge as "a little local difficulty, it'll blow over".

Instead, GYF blew their competition away.

Each of their candidates received more than double the votes of the second-placed challenger.

In total they secured almost 5% of the total vote in the county council elections, compared with Labour's 10%.

Bear in mind, Labour were standing in 84 seats.

Reform needed 43 councillors for a majority but only secured 40 – Lowe's plan to deny them outright victory had worked.

"The volume and the seismic win that we achieved was a huge surprise to all of us," said Jon Wedon, who is now leader of the council's GYF group.

A Great Yarmouth man who works as Lowe's office manager, he said his party had focused on local issues during the campaign.

"[People] turned out in volumes, en masse, people that have never voted before - to endorse our approach."

GYF took seven seats from the Conservatives and two from Labour.

"Obviously people have voted for change," said Great Yarmouth Borough Council's Tory leader Carl Smith – who lost his county council seat.

"We'll look to see who's in charge of Norfolk County Council and how we can work with who's over there for the benefits of Great Yarmouth."

Labour's Trevor Wainwright said he was "just amazed by the numbers".

"But they've now got to deliver," he said. "They made a lot of promises… the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say."

GYF supporters in the coastal town told the BBC why they favoured the new party.

"I just want something different," explained Antony Holmes, 42.

"They're taking on business people who know the area rather than career politicians."

Joanna Benquesus, 49, did not vote but has been impressed by Lowe.

She said: "He's thinking for Great Yarmouth, he's thinking for Great Yarmouth people and the public."

Carl Asker, 64, hopes regeneration efforts in the town will go beyond the tourist-focused seafront areas.

"I just thought we needed change," he said. "I've had a business in Yarmouth since 2011 but the last three to five years, it's just been going down, down, down."

Turnout in the area's nine county council divisions averaged 46%.

Milan Cureja, 22, is another who did not vote but welcomed the party's success.

"Hopefully they make things better - a better life, a better future," he said.

Wedon said his group would focus on local issues including the impact on services from new housing developments.

With Reform lacking a majority to run the council it may sometimes need the support of other parties.

Wedon admitted that while Lowe was not keen on his former party - "they tried to put him in jail… I don't think I'd be very keen on them either" - he said GYF had not ruled out working with them.

"Rupert has been open about how he will work with anybody if it benefits the good people of Great Yarmouth," he said.

"It would be wrong of us not to sit down and talk to anybody that has proposals because we've been elected to help and support people. That's what we will do."

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