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Reform UK burst into parliament at the general election, winning five seats and promising to hold Labour’s feet to the fire.
In doing so, Nigel Farage’s party won the luxury of a platform to shout from without the responsibility of being in power.
But on Friday morning, Reform won its first regional mayor in Andrea Jenkyns. With results still coming in, the insurgent right-wing party could gain control of several English councils, too.
Like a dog chasing a squirrel and finally catching up, Reform now has to decide what it will actually do with its newfound authority. The only previous example of a Farage-led party taking power offers an unappealing blueprint: a Ukip triumph on Thanet District Council in Kent in 2015 ended in collapse after years of infighting over failures to deliver on election promises.
Will Reform suffer the same fate, or is the party better placed to succeed under an older, wiser Mr Farage?
The Independent looks at what Reform has promised in the local elections, and whether it can deliver.
British DOGE
Reform’s major promise to voters in the local elections has been to follow Donald Trump’s footsteps and slash government spending.
It has promised a British DOGE (Department for Government Efficiency) in each local authority it gains control of. Ms Jenkyns will likely be responsible for rolling out the first as mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.
The party hopes it will discover “wasteful” spending on diversity and inclusivity programmes, allowing it to slash spending and cut local taxes in turn.
The independent Penn Wharton Budget Model, which tracks government spending in the US, said DOGE has failed to have a meaningful impact on government spending in the US, and that spending could in fact have increased since Mr Trump’s election.
The department initially promised $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) in savings, and has so far found just $160 billion (£120 billion) of cuts - with increases in spending elsewhere leading to the overall rise.
War on woke and work from home
Mr Farage has also lashed out at councils including Hertfordshire County Council over “woke” issues and staff working from home.
He has vowed staff working for Reform-controlled councils will be ordered back to their offices. He also claimed a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill had “a warning note about colonialism, slavery and racism”, a claim denied by the council.
He also attacked the “woke virtue signalling spending” of Wiltshire Council during a visit to Salisbury in the run up to polls opening.
Rejecting asylum seekers
One of the biggest issues Reform campaigned on is asylum seekers being housed in hotels across the UK.
Mr Farage repeatedly pointed during the by-election campaign to the number of migrants living in Runcorn who had arrived in Britain after crossing the English Channel.
It has vowed that councillors will campaign against the use of hotels in local authorities they are elected to, with Reform-controlled councils even blocking the use of hotels in areas where they can.
Ms Jenkyns sparked anger immediately after her election, suggesting Reform would house asylum seekers in tents rather than hotels. She said if tents are “good enough” for migrants in camps in France, those same migrants should be happy living in tents when they arrive in Britain.
How effective will it be?
Reform’s Labour and Tory opponents hope power proves a curse for Mr Farage’s party. The areas it controls will face fierce scrutiny in the run up to the next general election, with every fallout and failure sure to make headlines.
If the party does deliver, it will prove its positioning as the real opposition to Labour is more than just bluster.
But if it fails to live up to its promises, Reform’s polling high might just come crashing down.
English (US) ·