Labour officials struggling to hold on to the U.K. capital now fret about a “pentagon” — a mind-bending fight in which they’re fending off challenges on multiple fronts, while the Conservatives are grasping to stay relevant. An already priced-in hammering in Wales, Scotland and in councils across England could, according to YouGov polling shared with POLITICO this week, be compounded by big losses in the capital. All of that offers up fresh ammunition for the growing tranche of Labour MPs — who need local reps to fight future campaigns and deliver for voters — wanting to eject their embattled leader.

“People will come back and say I’ve lost all my f****** councillors and I’m obviously going to lose my seat — but for London it’s a different level,” said one government minister granted anonymity like others in this piece to speak freely. “Some of the MPs in London have never lost before. They don’t know what it’s like.” Farage marauds from the right The early April sun illuminates Nigel Farage’s blue suit as he marches down Romford Market, flanked by a huddle of supporters and security heavies.

The historic market in the far-east London borough of Havering isn’t as thriving as it used to be, but everyone from the butcher to the babygrow seller wants to stop the Reform UK boss for a picture. Farage hasn’t got his own social media team in tow — but in this strongly-right leaning town that has staunchly-backed the center-right Conservatives in recent decades, he doesn’t need it. A steady stream of selfie-takers will flood their own social media with images of themselves grinning with Farage, his own free meme factory.

Romford feels culturally far further from London’s cosmopolitan center than its 14 miles. Havering is becoming more diverse as Londoners leave the crushing costs of the inner city, but it still resembles one of the “forgotten towns” in which Farage’s pledges to slash migration and take on the system are winning him support. Nigel Farage campaigns ahead of the May 7 local elections on April 10, 2026, in Romford, England. | Carl Court/Getty Images Indeed, the butcher Steve Wickenden yells from over his meat counter that “it was either you or Rupert Lowe” — praising the policies of both the Reform leader and his former MP who’s now positioning himself even further to the right than Farage.

But seeing “Nige” he proudly takes out his “Vote Reform, Get Starmer Out” placard and hangs it from the meat hooks above his counter. Here the Conservatives feel like a dead force — their troubles demonstrated by the MP guiding Farage around the market, Andrew Rosindell, who defected from the Tories to Reform. Havering is quite possibly Reform’s best bet to gain a council within London, though they are targeting other outer boroughs like Bexley, Bromley, Hillingdon and Barking and Dagenham.

Along with migration, there’s another cultural vein Rosindell is able to tap into here. Havering was created in the 1960s by bringing Romford, and its leafier neighbor Hornchurch, out of Essex and into the capital. It’s had an uneasy place in London ever since.

Now one of Reform’s big offers here is a referendum to reverse that decision, in what is naturally being termed “Hexit.” Caren Webb, the stallholder selling baby clothes who’s switched from voting Conservative to Reform, reckons that this would give “a bit more power” to stop the pace of change in Romford she says is typified by new blocks of flats popping up in the otherwise low-rise town. The Brexit parallels are clear. Ray Morgon, who runs the Havering Residents’ Association, warns a post-Hexit Havering would need to negotiate with Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s City Hall so pensioners don’t lose their “freedom passes” for transport — something Rosindell calls a “lie.” Farage doesn’t want to get into the specifics.

“It’s about identity, it’s about how you feel, and that actually matters to people,” he says down Romford Market. “Somehow, a London in which Khan has been elected three times just feels a million miles away from life in virtually all, actually, of these outer boroughs.” The Reform UK leader tells POLITICO he’s considering going further and opening up a debate about whether other outer London boroughs might want to rejoin their former counties. T