Try GOLD - Free
A week spent at Reform's first full council meetings
The Guardian
|May 24, 2025
When Nigel Farage held a victory lap of England after his mammoth local elections win on 1 May, he was characteristically bullish about Reform UK's plan to shake up town halls.
The party would send in Elon Musk-style budget-slashing units, he said, while promising to turf out asylum seekers and any civil servants working on climate change or diversity. Anyone who "thinks they can go on working from home," he warned, "I think you better all be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly."
Yet three weeks into power in nine of England's cash-starved local authorities - where Reform UK runs £8bn-worth of public services - Farage's "Reform-quake" has so far been limited to smaller, but symbolic, acts of a so-called "war on woke".
In Kent and Durham, councils with a combined £1bn of debt, one of the party's first actions was to take down the Ukrainian flag - hoisted to show support with the war-besieged nation - and Reform vowed not to fly rainbow-coloured flags in support of LGBTQ+ residents.
This story is from the May 24, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Leon to shut restaurants and cut jobs after buyback from Asda
The fast food chain Leon is planning to close restaurants and cut jobs, less than two months after it was bought back from Asda by its co-founder, John Vincent.
1 min
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Visitors to US could have to reveal five years of social media activity
Trump plan would also demand disclosure of relatives' personal details
4 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Hong Kong exiles hit by explicit fake letters
Sexually explicit letters and “lonely housewife” posters about high-profile pro-democracy Hong Kong exiles have been sent to people in the UK and Australia, marking a ratcheting up in the transnational harassment faced by critics of the Chinese Communist party’s rule in the former British colony.
4 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Attempt to halt doctor strikes with better offer
Wes Streeting has made an improved offer to end the long-running dispute with resident doctors before the strike next week that threatens to bring chaos to the NHS as it battles a flu surge.
3 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Italy first country to win Unesco recognition for national cuisine
Unesco has officially recognised Italian cooking as a cultural beacon, an endorsement hailed by the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, whose government has put the country’s food at the heart of its nationalistic expression of identity.
1 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Sexual letters and deepfake images used to harass pro-democracy Hong Kong exiles
At least half a dozen of Lau’s former neighbours in Maidenhead received letters showing fake, sexualised images of her.
3 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Panto Kemi takes aim at struggling PM, but it’s Davey who knocks the stuffing out of him
With little more than a week to go until the Christmas recess, the Commons is already in festive overdrive.
2 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Sky Media's Priya Dogra poached by Channel 4 as new CEO
Channel 4 has raided Sky for its new chief executive as the broadcaster faces the prospect of a takeover of ITV by Comcast that would pose the biggest threat in its four-decade history.
1 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Christmas with ChatGPT
Stores nervous as shoppers use AI to come up with gift ideas
3 mins
December 11, 2025
The Guardian
Starmer appoints 25 Labour peers to boost support in House of Lords
Keir Starmer has appointed 25 Labour peers, including a number of former senior government and party aides, in an attempt to strengthen his hand in the House of Lords.
3 mins
December 11, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size