Latest news with #Reform-Conservative
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reform UK struggles to find friends to share council power
Reform UK's success in the recent local elections has propelled many councillors with limited or no political experience into council chambers across England. While Reform UK's rise was the big story of those elections, almost half of the councils up for grabs were not won outright by any single party. That means many of those newbie councillors are now navigating so-called hung councils, where parties with little in common often work together to get the business of local government done. But so far, it hasn't panned out that way for Reform UK, which isn't involved in any formal coalitions, pacts or deals in areas where there were local elections this year. This was despite rampant speculation about Reform-Conservative coalitions ahead of the polls, with party leaders Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage not ruling out council deals. So, what's going on? In some places - Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire - Reform UK has enough councillors to form minority administrations and is attempting to govern alone. In other areas where coalitions were possible, Reform UK has either shunned co-operation or vice versa. Where Reform UK has explored potential partnerships locally, its policies have been viewed with suspicion by the established parties. In Cornwall, the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives refused to work with Reform UK, even though it was the biggest party and had won the most seats. Instead, the Lib Dems teamed up with independent councillors to run Cornwall Council as a minority administration. That infuriated Reform UK's group leader in Cornwall, Rob Parsonage, who branded the coalition deal "undemocratic" and "a total stitch-up". Did other parties contrive to exclude Reform UK? The newly minted Lib Dem council leader, Leigh Frost, does not think so. "The reality is our core values at heart of it just stand for two very different things and it makes working together incompatible," Frost told the BBC. "And then Reform was given two weeks to try to form an administration and chose not to." Frost said Reform UK's Cornwall candidates mainly campaigned on immigration. This was echoed in conversations with other local party leaders across the country. The BBC was told Reform's candidates had little local policy to offer and mostly focused on national issues, such as stopping small boats crossing the English Channel. Slashing "wasteful spending" by councils, like Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in the US, was also a common campaign theme. In Worcestershire, where Reform won the most seats but fell short of a majority, the party's supposed lack of local policy was a major sticking point for the Conservatives. "They haven't got a local prospectus and that was part of the problem," said Adam Kent, Tory group leader on Worcestershire County Council. "They didn't stand on any local issues. It was on national politics. How can you go into coalition with somebody if you don't even know what they stand for?" Joanne Monk, the Reform UK council leader in the county, said she only had "a brief couple of chats" with other party leaders but was uncompromising on coalitions. "I'm damned sure we're not on the same wavelength," she said. She followed the lead of Farage, who ruled out formal coalitions at council level but said "in the interests of local people we'll do deals", in comments ahead of the local elections. In Worcestershire, Reform UK's minority administration may need to do deals to pass key decisions and avoid other parties banding together to veto their plans. Recognising this, she acknowledged other parties were "going to have to work with us at some point". In Northumberland, the Conservatives retained their position as the largest party and gave the impression they were willing to entertain coalition talks with Reform UK, which gained 23 seats. "I said I would work with anyone and my door is open," said Conservative council leader Glen Sanderson. "But Reform the next day put out a press release saying the price for working with the Conservatives would be extremely high. So on that basis, I assumed that was the door closed on me." No talks were held and the Conservatives formed a minority administration. Weeks had passed after the local elections before Mark Peart was voted in as Reform UK's local group leader in the county. As a result, he wasn't in a position to talk to anybody. "Everything had already been agreed," Peart said. "It was too late." Reform UK sources admitted the party was caught a bit flat-footed here and elsewhere as many of its new councillors got the grips with their new jobs in the weeks following the local elections. A support network for those councillors, in the form of training sessions and a local branch system, is being developed by the party. But this week Zia Yusuf, one of the key architects behind that professionalisation drive and the Doge cost-cutting initiative, resigned as party chairman, leaving a gap in the party's leadership. Reform UK's deputy leader, Richard Tice, said the party's success at the local elections "was partly because of the significant efforts and improvements to the infrastructure of the party" spearheaded by Yusuf. Though Yusuf is gone, the party has considerably strengthened its foundations at local level, after gaining 677 new councillors and two mayors. A Reform UK source said party bosses will be keeping an eye out for stand-out councillors who could go on to become parliamentary candidates before the general election. They said in areas where Reform UK runs councils as a minority administration, it's going to take some compromise with other parties and independents to pass budgets and key policies. In the messy world of town halls and council chambers, that could be a tough apprenticeship. Reform UK prepares for real power on a council it now dominates Sir John Curtice: The map that shows Reform's triumph was much more than a protest vote Reform UK makes big gains in English local elections
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tactical voting to ‘stop Reform' may hamper Farage in local elections
A new wave of tactical voting could hamper progress for Reform UK in Thursday's local elections, campaigners believe, with even some Conservative voters now saying they will vote Labour or Liberal Democrat. This could particularly affect the Runcorn and Helsby byelection, where Nigel Farage's party are still the favourites to overturn a Labour majority of almost 15,000, in what would be a significant blow to Keir Starmer. The same phenomenon has also been reported in the contest for the new mayoralty of Hull and East Yorkshire, with polls showing the Reform candidate as leading, but where the Liberal Democrats are trying to position themselves as the main challengers. Reform falling short in either race would be a blow for Farage, particularly as results in the byelection and the four mayoral contests will be declared overnight on Thursday – before those for 24 councils across England also being contested – thus setting the tone for media coverage. Voters have become increasingly sophisticated at voting tactically, with the 2024 general election seeing many instances of Labour, Lib Dem or Green voters switching to whichever of the parties was seen as best placed to beat the Conservatives locally. But according to Labour and Lib Dem officials, the rise of Reform, which is now regularly topping national opinion polls, appears to be boosting this phenomenon, with some voters also seemingly motivated by talk of a future Reform-Conservative alliance. With the byelection in Runcorn a direct Reform-Labour contest, campaigners say they have not only had Lib Dem and Green supporters promise to back Labour to thwart Reform, but also Conservatives saying the same. The bulk of Tory support is located in the more prosperous areas of Frodsham and Helsby, close to Chester, with Labour using the final days of the campaign to heavily target centrist Conservatives who dislike Farage. 'A big part of our operation has been to try to squeeze the Tory vote there,' a Labour source said. 'It is happening, but to what extent remains to be seen.' Talk of a future alliance between the Conservatives and Reform has helped push the message, they said. 'Lots of the more traditional Tories don't like the way their party has been dragged to the right. In Runcorn, some people like Farage, but they are tribally anti-Conservative. For both groups these sort of links can be a red line,' they added. While polling for the Hull and East Yorkshire mayoralty has been less clear, the Lib Dems have used their second place in recent polling to campaign heavily on the idea only they can stop Reform, with a mass of leaflets and digital adverts trying to persuade Labour and Green supporters to vote tactically. 'We're focusing really hard on an almost postcode-by-postcode campaign in places where we think there is a stop Reform vote,' a Lib Dem official said. 'For a lot of voters, Reform are so far off the deep end that it motivates people. They're less interested in policies, it's more: 'Our number one priority is to stop Reform, if you can do that we'll vote for you.'' This message, they said, also seemed to be resonating with some Conservative supporters in areas such as East Riding where the party is traditionally strong. 'In Hull, there are lots of Labour and Green voters who are terrified of Reform. In East Riding, what you might call the softer Conservatives are also increasingly saying: 'My goodness, I can't let Reform win.' 'Something has happened in the last 10 days. It feels like a lot of voters are pivoting quite hard into what you could call a 'stop Reform coalition'.' Farage has sought to manage expectations before the polls open on Thursday, saying his party lacks the experience and expertise of Labour in on-the-ground campaigning, which he says will particularly restrict their chances in Runcorn. However, campaigners from other parties say that, in the byelection particularly, Reform have mustered teams of campaigners to knock on doors, augmented by a heavy spend on paid-for mailed leaflets and social media advertising. The results in Runcorn and the mayoral elections, and more generally in the council votes, will be closely examined for signs of how well the Reform election machine is working, as well as for the emergence of any informal anti-Reform coalition. While a combined Reform and Conservative polling share would be above 45%, strategists from other parties say any pact between the two would be very likely to make such tactical voting even more prevalent.
