Reform UK cannot squander victories with council gaffes

A HANDFUL of Reform UK’s local councillors have been making headlines recently for all the wrong reasons, and it is not a good look.

- Duncan Barkes

ACCUSED: Councillors Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barrett and Maxine Fothergill have been suspended by Reform after a Kent County Council video row

They must get their act together if the party is going to deliver the political earthquake at the next general election of which it is easily capable.

It has been six months since the May local elections when Nigel Farage’s party gained 677 council seats — a remarkable achievement for a young political outfit. Reform has taken control of councils in Derbyshire, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Doncaster and Durham.

They’ve also made serious inroads elsewhere in England and are leading the administrations in Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire.

In May, Reform’s Dame Andrea Jenkyns become Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire and ex-boxer Luke Campbell become the Reform UK Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire. Campbell showed great promise during a recent round of regional media interviews, where he happily answered questions from callers to the local radio stations he was a guest on. He connected well with local people.

But it was never going to be an easy journey from what was effectively a startup party to becoming a major player in local government — and Reform are naturally experiencing bumps in the road.