AIBU to think Reform councillors don’t know what they’re doing?

[Wouldcou]

Reform councillor saying that she doesn’t understand the process. This is the reality of what people voted for.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRnRo3eg/

Also see the amount of Reform Councillors who have quit or defected.

Reform UK has shed 22 councillors and counting in the two weeks since the local council elections on 7 May, triggering a series of costly by-elections.

While Reform won over 1,400 seats in the recent local council elections, Nigel Farage’s party is also shelling councillors to defections, suspensions and lost seats.

Stuart Prior, who was elected as a Reform UK councillor for Essex County Council and for Rochford District Council resigned on Monday 11 May, just days after winning these council seats.

Before the elections, it was revealed that Prior had shared racist posts on social media referring to white people as “the master race” and suggesting white people have “larger brains”.

Less than a week after being elected, Glenn Gibbins, a Reform councillor on Sunderland City Council was also suspended for posting racist comments Gibbons said that the Nigerian population in Sunderland should be melted down to “fill in potholes”.

On the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme on 10 May, Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, was asked if he was happy for someone with these views to represent Reform.

Tice refused to condemn Gibbins’ comments and instead accused the media of “smearing” and “sneering” against Reform.
Ben Rowe, who was recently elected to Plymouth City Council has also been suspended for anti-Islam and antisemitic posts.

The posts were unearthed before the local elections, prompting Reform to say it was investigating the claims.

Another Reform councillor, Barry Martin, who said that the job of a councillor was “so dull and boring” resigned just a year after taking his seat.

Reform Party UK Exposed has published the full list of Reform councillor departures so far:
Lost seats on 7 May

• Mike Morris
• Clarence Mitchell
• Alan Cook
• Mark Shooter
• Kira Gabbert

Resigned

• Daniel Devaney
• Stuart Prior
• Jay Cooper
• Barry Martin
• Stephen Mousdell
• Andrew Harrison
• Kenny Hope
• Danielle Cavanagh

Defected

• Nick Farmer
• Ashley Monk
• Jo Monk
• Matthew Jones

Suspended

• Ben Rowe
• Glenn Gibbins
• Paul Heyward
• Nathaniel Menday
• Laura Newham

Dr David Bull, Reform’s former party chair has also been replaced by Lee Anderson, the Reform MP for Ashfield. In a post announcing Bull’s departure on Facebook, Reform said it was “delighted” that Anderson has become the party’s new chair, adding: “David Bull has overseen unprecedented growth in his time as Chairman and will still remain heavily involved in the party”.

Oh dear. Your optimism is borderline delusional. But credit to you for looking for a silver lining.

The country is a mess. A total and utter mess.

Clutching at straws there looking at last 7 days of boat arrivals. And an economy who can has barely grown in the last 20 years.

I think the issue is many of there voters aren't very bright, but you're very gracious giving them the benefit of the doubt. Around 30% of any given population aren't very bright and 30% are also drawn to authoritarianism. I would suspect the venn diagram of the two groups would almost be a circle. Additionally, only two in ten Reform voters are university educated. Now there are many other ways to be intelligent than having a degree, but most university students are taught to think critically critically and this is something Reform voters seem incapable of.

If you want to be negative and blinded by hate that’s on you, but how dare you fuck up the country for everyone else when the facts PROVE that immigration is down, NhS is getting better, the economy is growing,

what else do you actually want?

More on Makerfield's candidate Kenyon

https://searchlightmagazine.com/2026/05/reforms-makerfield-candidate-scrubs-fascist-leader-from-his-facebook-friends/

Raikes has pictures of himself wearing a fascist uniform, hard to miss.

Have worked in an LA for years but have handed in my notice. Can't work with them.

Absolute shit show. These people are supposed to represent our interests. It’s an important job, not an ideological jolly.

Put people in charge of things like social care who don’t understand, and you’re risking real harm and neglect to vulnerable people.

Bad decisions lead to services being cut, money being wasted, and experienced staff leaving, so everything starts to unravel. Worst case = safeguarding failures, services collapsing, and government stepping in.

When central government has to step in, local democracy is eroded further. Maybe that’s the endgame Reform’s leadership want?

Our local Labour guy is very visible. He is an oncologist who works a 4 day week and spends every Thursday addressing local concerns. He is very visible, does what he says he is going to do, takes it in turn to visit each village in his constituency, talks to local people and is an all round good guy. I know people who don't normally vote Labour but who voted for him.

He is very well liked.

https://www.facebook.com/DonnyFP/videos/it-is-what-it-is-that-was-the-response-of-doncaster-reform-uk-leader-craig-ward-/926833330289858/

That’s lovely @RampantIvy its what councillors should be doing. There are some brilliant people out there who genuinely want to improve peoples lives. We should be doing all we can to elect these people.

I think this post is a really good example of the problem.

Reform supporters genuinely don't care how racist, misogynistic or incompetent Reform representatives are. They intend to carry on voting for them regardless, simply because they are angry with the "establishment" and want to give the traditional parties a kicking.

It doesn't appear that many of them have thought much about what consequences they might have to deal with after they have achieved that kicking.

It's all very well voting for a monumental act of self harm so that people can enjoy the short term satisfaction of seeing the people they don't like humiliated. The trouble is, they are then going to have to live with that decision. I don't think many of them have really thought that far.

People treat it like some sort of exciting game - it really isn't. Sad state of affairs but not surprising.

I’m also accepting that there will be competent and committed people who stood for Reform - it’s hard to imagine I would agree with them about much but I’ve no doubt there will be some well-meaning people involved somehow, simply because most people are. I hope that seeing what a bunch they are being lumped in with makes them consider standing as independents or moving to another party tbh.

The cynic in me thinks that Reform will be happy if their councils do an awful job. Then at the General Election, they can point out how broken Britain is, for example Social Care, roads, etc, and that voting for Reform will fix it.

They'll know that a good percentage of the voting public don't understand which layer of government is responsible for what.

This scrofulous little turd has been voted in in my ward in Kirklees, along with two other Reform candidates, replacing Lib Dems who were excellent local councillors. I’m ashamed to be from here right now.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXWrUlsjG03/?igsh=MWo4bXNnNGs3aXpmcg==

It’s what all politicians should be doing. We have a Tory MP (who I wouldn’t have voted for in a million years) and he’s excellent. Very active in the constituency and takes his responsibility very seriously. Reform is on the rise round here and I’m now contemplating voting Tory for the first time in my life.

I suspect a lot of the people elected didn't understand what being a councillor entails. It's not just attending the odd meeting. The job takes up around 30 hours per week as a minimum. There is no salary, only an allowance of around £12k per year.

It's also a pretty thankless task. Everyone is an expert when it comes to running a council, yet few have any idea about the budget constraints they try to manage. They get blamed for everything and councillors are bombarded with abuse via the internet on a pretty much daily basis.

The country is a mess. At least from where I am looking. Housing too expensive, young people can’t get jobs, spiralling student debt, high streets boarded up, dire public transport for most places outside London, SEND reform missing, schools underfunded, NHS waiting lists .. I could go on. I don’t know what the answer is but I know it isn’t Reform.

Not quite, according to the polls. They would have to chum up with the Tories as they wouldn't have a majority. Plus their lead is slowly shrinking in the polls with three years still to go.

They will if their council tax goes up or local services are cut because that money is being wasted on people to teach these fuckwits how to do the job they volunteered and are being paid to do!

They'll just blame Starmer or whoever is PM. Or immigrants.

Yes, that is exactly what happens in my Reform council area, 1 year in. There is very little understanding of who is responsible for what.

Do you actually care about this country? You sound like a crazy ex-husband burning down the house he half owns because his CMS bill is too high

They’ll blame the national government.

It's not just reform. I sometimes listen to our council meetings podcasts. Councillors who have been in place for years. It's embarrassing how dense they are. Trouble is despite the money people who should stand won't or can't.

Actually, you're right. Critical thinking is definitely not the strong suit of the average Reform voter.

As for the quote about melting down Nigerians to fill the potholes in Sunderland, yes that was an actual quote. Not only did Laura Kuenssberg ask Richard Tice about it on her programme, but he didn't even attempt to deny that it happened.