Reform UK has gained the Heacham ward on the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk after Paul Powers won the by-election with 289 votes.
Powers secured 37.8% of the valid vote in the poll held on Thursday 6 August 2026, finishing 70 votes ahead of Liberal Democrat Rachael Windsor.
Windsor came second with 219 votes, while the defending Conservative candidate Ade Adeyemo placed third on 163. Labour’s Ken Hubbard received 93 votes.
Official turnout was 17.68%. Four ballot papers were rejected, leaving 764 valid votes from an electorate of 4,344.
Heacham by-election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Vote share |
| Paul James Alexander Powers | Reform UK | 289 | 37.8% |
| Rachael Claire Windsor | Liberal Democrats | 219 | 28.7% |
| Ade Adeyemo | Conservatives | 163 | 21.3% |
| Ken Hubbard | Labour | 93 | 12.2% |
Vote shares are calculated from the 764 valid votes and may not total exactly 100% because of rounding. The council’s results page uses all ballot papers issued, including rejected papers, when displaying its percentages, producing fractionally lower figures.
- Reform UK majority: 70 votes
- Valid votes: 764
- Rejected ballots: 4
- Electorate: 4,344
- Official turnout: 17.68%
- Lead over the Liberal Democrats: 9.2 percentage points
Reform gains seat from Conservatives
The result is formally a Reform UK gain from the Conservatives because the vacancy followed the resignation of Conservative councillor Andrew Jamieson.
Jamieson had won Heacham’s second seat at the 2023 borough election, defeating Labour by 31 votes. Independent candidate Terry Parish topped that poll and remains the ward’s other councillor.
Adeyemo was unable to retain the vacancy for the Conservatives. His 163 votes represented 21.3% of the valid total and left him 126 votes behind Powers.
The result placed the Liberal Democrats between Reform and the Conservatives. Windsor’s 219 votes gave her a 56-vote advantage over Adeyemo and put her within 70 votes of the winner.
Reform completes West Norfolk double
Heacham was one of two neighbouring King’s Lynn and West Norfolk borough wards voting on 6 August.
In Snettisham, Reform UK’s Ben Griffin gained another Conservative vacancy, defeating Liberal Democrat Lee Henson by just 18 votes.
The two results produced the same finishing order: Reform first, Liberal Democrats second, Conservatives third and Labour fourth.
Reform’s margin was more comfortable in Heacham, where Powers led by 9.2 percentage points. Griffin’s lead in Snettisham was only 2.8 points.
Taken together, the contests saw Reform add two councillors to its group while the Conservatives lost both seats they were defending.
Comparison with the 2023 election
The previous Heacham election was structurally different from the by-election. Two borough seats were available in 2023 and electors could vote for up to two candidates, whereas the 2026 contest filled one vacancy and each elector had one vote.
| Candidate | Party | 2023 votes | Reported share |
| Terry Parish | Independent | 1,006 | 42.7% |
| Andrew Jamieson | Conservatives | 494 | 21.0% |
| Michelle Carter | Labour | 463 | 19.7% |
| Michael Jackson | Conservatives | 393 | 16.7% |
The 2023 shares are proportions of all candidate votes in a two-seat election. They are included for historical context and are not directly comparable with shares from the single-seat 2026 by-election.
For that reason, this article does not calculate a conventional swing or direct percentage-point movement from 2023.
Reform and the Liberal Democrats did not contest the ward in 2023, while Parish—the dominant candidate in that election—was not on the by-election ballot because his seat was not vacant.
The absence of Parish and the change from a two-seat to a single-seat poll created a substantially different electoral choice. The result can safely be described as a Reform gain from the Conservatives, but it should not be treated as a like-for-like replay of the 2023 ward contest.
Why did Andrew Jamieson resign?
Jamieson resigned from King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council in June after deciding to leave elected politics and pursue new opportunities.
He had also served on Norfolk County Council from 2017 until standing down at the May 2026 election and was previously deputy leader of the county authority.
His borough resignation created the vacancy alongside Stuart Dark’s departure in Snettisham. Dark said he was stepping down to concentrate on charity work and other interests.
Both vacancies had been held by the Conservatives, giving the party two simultaneous defensive contests on the West Norfolk coast.
Who is Paul Powers?
Powers had contested local office for Reform before his Heacham victory.
At the May 2026 Norfolk County Council election, he stood in the Gaywood North and Central division. Liberal Democrat Rob Colwell won the seat, with Powers finishing second.
His victory in Heacham now gives him a place on the borough council and increases Reform UK’s representation on the authority.
The borough council is responsible for services including planning, housing, waste collection, licensing and leisure. Heacham is represented by two borough councillors, with Powers joining independent councillor Terry Parish.
Low-turnout coastal contest
Fewer than one voter in five participated in the by-election. The 17.68% turnout was substantially lower than the 29.62% recorded in neighbouring Snettisham on the same day.
Low turnout does not affect the validity of the result, but it limits how confidently the outcome can be applied to a wider electorate. Powers won the seat with 289 votes from an electorate of 4,344.
The result nevertheless has an immediate and unambiguous consequence for the council: Reform gained a Conservative seat and Powers was duly elected as a borough councillor for Heacham.