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

It’s about ten times the number and that’s being generous. I bet the next local elections can’t come round fast enough for the populations of those councils.

I have utilised AI - and it's telling me lots of upper tier authorities have a whole legal staff comparable to that- but it includes the legal admin/ secretaries/.trainees that sort of thing.
So.suppose that answers my question @blossomtoes I assume you.mean, that he is exaggerating the number ? And also you are referring to much smaller numbers of actual qualified solicitors?

If your starting point is that Reform supporters aren't exactly wallowing in critical thinking and the people they elect even less so, then it's entirely reasonable to assume that Mr. Harrisons use of the word "lawyers" was not exactly buttressed by reality.

However this person was a former conservative councillor and experienced in business consultancy sakes and management. There appears no excuse for his apparent ignorance of basic employment laws and rights?
It also appears he's referring to women generically because he perhaps doesn't know or understand what they do, his experience being in the area of corporate training and sports?
Maybe that's why he has no awareness of why you'd need solicitors?
So should public service leaders' fitness to undertake their role be much more carefully vetted?

However this person was a former conservative councillor

But since the only requirement to be a councillor is to be elected, that's proof of nothing

and experienced in business consultancy sales and management. There appears no excuse for his apparent ignorance of basic employment laws and rights?

Where we sometimes say "Mandy Rice Davies" applies, there should be a similar reservation for the phrase "Shania Twain applies".

Hampshire councillor Madgewick has been charged with rape, sexual assault and images of children.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c63elky79np7o?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c63elky79np7o

No I just meant he's not completely new to how councils run and where he should get advice from.
Mandy Rice Davies- he would say that wouldn't he?
Shania Twain- he's got the looks but not the touch?

Well it's Taylor Swift for me - Shake it off.

Dear God is there ever a case for some kind of Epstein scale investigation?

Both of those. Frankly I’m astonished it’s anywhere near that number based on the local authorities I’ve worked for.

Third one today

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39wz04jrd2no

A Reform UK politician has been sacked from his senior council post after he posted a sexualised AI-generated image of a female colleague on social media.

The since-deleted post was published on X by Christopher Hudson, cabinet member for highways and transport at Suffolk County Council, at 15:44 GMT on Monday.

It included an image which showed fellow Reform councillor June Mummery in a tight, sequined bra with the slogan "I saved the Suffolk school nurses!".

And a fourth one

A Reform UK councillor has apologised for ‘racist and homophobic’ social media posts made before he was elected.

Dudley’s Cllr Caley Ashman faced severe criticism about using the phrase ‘goyslop’ which is widely regarded as anti-Semitic.

https://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/26694041.dudley-reform-councillor-apologises-racist-homophobic-posts/

I may have very limited experience here but I have never come across this word- and certainly would not think it a good idea to.use in casual speech- which.makes me wonder what sort of extreme material he is viewing

To be using that word, I can’t imagine how he wasn’t on far-right forums - it isn’t a mainstream slur, it’s rooted in a particularly mad conspiracy theory about Jews deliberately using mass-processed food to weaken non-Jewish populations.

One of the things I find most disturbing about Reform is how they will talk constantly about how bad far-left anti semitism is (which it can be - horrendously so) whilst at the same time normalising far-right anti semitic conspiracy theories. Which I suppose is exactly the same thing they do in pretending to be the great defenders of women and girls, whilst also minimising misogyny when it comes from their own side.