One message emerged from last week’s local elections: Reform is on a roll.

The party decisively won the popular vote and elected 677 councillors, more than 300 ahead of its nearest rivals.

Having taken control of several councils and won mayoral races, the party is no longer solely a vehicle for protest. It now has the job of actually getting things done and improving the lives of its constituents.

The party controls budgets worth millions of pounds. It can use this platform to show locally what a prospective Reform government could achieve if it ever got into power at Westminster.

David McCann: Unionism beware: the rise of Reform could be the second wind that nationalism needs

Brian Feeney: Keep the civil service away from decisions on Derry

British politics has seen flashes in the pan before. The SDP in 1981, Cleggmania in 2010, and UKIP in 2014 all had quick rushes of success but could never sustain any meaningful popularity.

Likewise, we have seen the demise of Labour and the Conservatives predicted many times........

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