Reform success in county was signposted... but now inexperienced councillors have to deliver

Reform UK have taken control of Staffordshire County Council. Phil Corrigan looks at why and what happens next

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NIGEL Farage visited Staffordshire twice during the local election campaign, urging on Reform UK’s candidates and telling them they were on the verge of something historic.

But even he may have been surprised at how well the Staffordshire County Council elections went for Reform.

The party went from having no county councillors at all to securing control of the authority, winning 49 out of 62 seats across the county.

The Conservatives, who have dominated the county council since 2009, were reduced to just 10 councillors, while Labour were left with only one representative.

It is difficult to overstate the size of this political earthquake in Staffordshire, and it is no exagerration to say the county council is now entering uncharted territory.

Never before has a party taken control of the council from such a position, with most of Reform’s councillors completely new to local government.

Heading into these elections, there were clear signs that Reform were poised to do very well in Staffordshire.

In last year’s general election, voters defecting from the Conservatives to Reform helped Labour to take all but two of the parliamentary seats in the county.