Councils now run by Reform - end of the beginning or beginning of the end?

[boys3]

So after 1st May Local Elections Reform have outright control of ten top tier Councils, and are the largest, or close to the largest party, in a number of others.

How will they get on do we think? Suddenly having responsibility and accountability for real stuff.

Just for a bit of context the recent National Audit Office report on Local Government in England.
https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/local-government-financial-sustainability-2025/?nab=2

These are the Councils they won outright. Number of seats they won and total seats on each Council, plus a link to the more detailed results. Some of the Councils have really good info sets with clear summaries and maps showing who won where. Others are a bit more basic. These councils deliver services for some 8 million people

Derbyshire
42/64 Derbyshire Results

Doncaster

37/55 Doncaster Results

County Durham
65/98 Durham Results

Kent

57/81 Kent Results

Lancashire
53/84 Lancashire Resuts

Lincolnshire

44/70 Lincolnshire Results

North Northants
39/68 North Northants Results

2 seats pending as ward election postponed due to death of a candidate

Nottinghamshire
40/66 Nottinghamshire Results
2 seats pending as ward election postponed due to death of a candidate

Staffordshire
49/62 Staffordshire Results

West Northants
42/76 West Northants Results

There are then 4 Councils where they are the largest party but short of a majority. Will Cons, or others, support them in any of these to give control? Or will others, incl Cons, coalesce to prevent that? We'll soon find out. If anyone knows already post away!

Cornwall 28/87. Cons have 7 seats so even combined well short of a majority. Lib Dems won 26 seats. I think more likely that Lib Dems will get support from sufficient Independents (19), Green (3) and Lab (4) to form an adminstration.
Cornwall Results

Leicestershire 25/55, so 3 short. Cons have 15 seats. So could easily support a Reform led adminstration. Or would they join with Lib Dems (11), Lab (2), Green (1) and Indie (1) to create a coalition administration that keeps Reform out?
Leicestershire Results

Warwickshire 23/57 so 5 short, Cons then have 9 seats, so could support to provide a majority. Lib Dems 14, Greens 7, Lab 3, Indie 1 - combined 25 so again short of a majority, Which way will Cons go?
Warwickshire Results

Worcestershire 27/57 so 2 short. Cons then have 12 seats, so could support to provide a majority. Or could join with the Greens (8), Lib Dems (6), Lab (2) and Indie (2) to thwart a Reform led Council. Equally only needs 2 of the 12 Cons to side with Reform to give them a majority and control though
Worcestshire Results

Of the remaining hung councils:

Northumberland Cons won 26/69, then Reform with 23, So the two combined have a comfortable majority, Or would the Cons look for support from 9 from Lab (8) Indie (7) Lib Dem (3) and Green (2) and avoid Reform. Northumberland Results

Buckinghamshire. Cons have 48/97 so 1 short of a majority. Reform only have 3 seats, but Cons only need support of 1. Equaly 1 of the 13 independents may provide that support. Buckinghamshire Results

In the others Devon, Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire support from Lab and Greens would give the Lib Dems control in each.
Hertfordshire Results
Gloucestshire Results
Devon Results

Lastly Wiltshire all down it seems to the Indies (7). Lib Dems have 43/98. Cons have 37 seats and Reform 10. Wiltshire Results

The final 3 Councils contested last Thursday all delivered Lib Dem majorities - Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire and Shropshire

I hear they're buying tents.

It's going to be an interesting few years, to be sure. Bad luck for any vulnerable people in those areas who depend heavily on council services. We can only hope that, when they fuck up at a local level, people will understand who needs to be held accountable.

Look what's happening in the USA. Coming to you in Reform led council areas.

All their declarations of interest will be…….interesting to read. Especially as Councils are not private businesses. I’m believe they also have things like transparency codes, procurement regulations, constitutions which set out how they operate.

Due to intelligence not being a pre-requisite for party membership; I wouldn't want to post what I think will happen as they would probably use my comments to inform their strategy!

Reform are predicted to have massive gains at next year's Senedd elections here in Wales. Welsh Labour have been in power here for over 25 years and are very unpopular. Many Labour Senedd Members have announced they won't be standing next year and I'm not surprised.

Reform UK
Regional Director South Central https://g.co/kgs/xD4apRZ

Anyone still wanting to work from home could apply for this job??

Me too. It’ll be interesting as the Cllr who won in our constituency was also elected alongside other Cllrs in the last round but did absolutely nothing of substance in comparison to the others. It’s what happens when people vote based on the party as opposed to the individual and their track record at a local level.

How much discretionary spend do local councils actually have? Don't they have a whole load of stuff that they have to do with central Govt money to provide core services etc. Then they have business rates and council tax, which again they are limited in what they can do with those funds too. After that they can raise funds locally in other ways and spend that how they will.

I'm wondering how much damage Reform can actually do, particularly given that there are lots of councils already teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and only providing core services anyway. I have no doubt there will be lots of loud noises about making people work in the office, burning rainbow flags, putting people in the stocks if they are not British enough or whatever other wild crap Reform believe in, but can they actually do much damage?

I am sure they'll find a way.

The local reform candidate near me opposes rewilding and encouraged self-sufficiency. So presumably they will take all the greenbelt land and turn it into allotments.

She also has actively supported public houses to preserve the brewing industry apparently. I think that means she spends all day getting pissed at the bar shouting about immigrants.

Well Council spending is basically swamped by social care, both elderly and SEN. This is the key issue facing councils and we can’t pretend it isn’t happening because it’s distasteful to talk about money in relation to vulnerable people.

However Reform rely on the pensioner vote so I think they’ll cut SEN to whatever level they can get away with, and channel the money to social care for the elderly.

I see it as a chance to see what they're really like at running things. If they cock it up they won't get voted in at the next GE, it's a bit of a trial period...

I' m really glad that my SEN children are no longer in school but I feel for those reliant on already stretched services.

Fascinating map of Nottingham, seeing it laid out like that. Thanks @boys3 .
Line strait down the middle. West Notts old industrial and ex mining, voted Reform. While the East which is more agricultural and prosperous, all Conservative.

That says it all. Areas that have been left with few jobs and little prospect of one, feel forgotten by the main parties. They only have themselves to blame.

I’m in Worcestershire and work for the local authority. I’m praying Reform don’t do a deal with another party.

I know Greens won’t touch them and that one of the independents is aligned with the Greens so he won’t go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tories did. The Tory councillor with responsibility for Adult Social Care seems a decent guy so I’m hoping but who knows what the sway of power might do.

I’m watching closely.

Good luck them making people go back to the office- our HQ has RAAC and is being decommissioned and everyone is already dispersed and mostly deskless!

It's the use of the word "bloke" in regard to Reform that rattles me: it seems to identify relentlessly with Nigel Farage forever doing photo-opps in some pub, pint in hand, laughing, joking and spouting bar-room philosophies. Just like an "ordinary bloke".

Personally, I think there is a distinct whiff of mysoginy emanating from Reform.

I can't pin down why I get that impression, but I just do.

Farage hangs around with rapists and uses VAWAG to score points. I didn't notice any information regarding VAWAG in their manifesto and nor has he or any of his MPs addressed it while elected. In fact didn't one of them kick in his girlfriend? Boys will be boys.

I work in local govt for a large, mainly rural council, but luckily we didn’t have elections this time.

I think many of those elected for reform probably have no clue what councils actually do, let alone how they operate in practice. And most election cycles you might get one or two wholly new councillors with no experience… I feel for all the democratic services officers having to guide them through this. I would imagine they will need a lot of patience!

I think for many of the new councillors it will be like when Brexit won and Boris and Gove were like WTF, how did that happen, we didn’t expect to win and now we have to try and work it out!

There will be a steep learning curve both for members of the Reform led councils and for the people who voted for them!

Lancashire https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ypy3jn41xo

The Reform UK group that now controls Lancashire County Council will elect a leader on 10 May.

The vote had been expected to take place last weekend in the wake of the party's emphatic victory in the local elections, which saw it secure a majority at County Hall.

However, the Lancashire group had to await the implementation of rules and procedures for the leadership election process, which have now been drawn up by Reform at a national level after it also took control of nine other county councils across England. My observation - Might have thought Reform would have had that sorted before rather than after election day.

The successful candidate will become the leader elect of the authority before a confirmation vote of the full council is heard at its annual general meeting on 22 May.

Stephen Atkinson, the former leader of Ribble Valley Borough Council, who defected to Reform from the Tories in March and was elected last week as the county councillor for Ribble Valley South West, has said he will be putting his name forward.

Presumably at the 22nd May meeting they will also confirm which cllr is the political lead for each broad service area - eg Children's Services; Adult Socal Care; Highways etc Along with chairs of all the various committees.

Shropshire - inauspicious start - though they are only the biggest opposition party. Lib Dems, comfortably in control with 42/74 seats, won't be too worried.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qw8qd5lvno

Worcestershire - maths proving a struggle

Owen Cleary, who took the Worcester seat of Warndon & Elbury Park for Reform, told the BBC following his win: "We don't have any intention of making alliances."

Though as they are two seats short of a majority they are going to need support from somewhere

Slapped down by "Regional Director"

"Of course we have to work with other parties," Reform's West Midlands regional director Pete Durnell told the BBC's Politics Midlands programme on Sunday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74nppn94j4o

Lincolnshire

Reform’s green energy assault in Lincolnshire ‘puts 12,200 jobs at risk’

Party intends to block projects despite net zero industries contributing nearly £1bn to local economy, analysis shows

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/07/reform-uk-green-energy-assault-lincolnshire-jobs-risk

They confuse me. They're talking about cutting costs yet want to spend millions on legal objections and want people to lose their jobs as well as important investments into the local economy.

Perhaps someone who voted for them can explain the logic.