Councils are Reform’s proving grounds
Conference put the first 100 days at the heart of Reform UK’s case for government.
For our councils, that case is already being tested. Our administrations have lived their own first 100 days.
That was unmistakable at conference. Thousands of members, supporters, business leaders and guests packed the NEC, Birmingham, while our local government sessions filled theatres, often with standing room only.
People wanted to hear not simply how Reform wins, but what follows victory: how our leaders set priorities, make difficult choices and turn a mandate for change into results.
Our first dedicated ‘business day’ reinforced the same point. A party preparing to govern should be in serious conversation with the people who invest, employ and create growth.
Governing well means understanding how decisions taken in public office affect businesses, workers and communities.
Two years ago, Reform councillors numbered in single figures. Today, we have close to 2,400, lead councils across England and are the third-largest group at the LGA.
More important than the numbers is what our administrations are beginning to demonstrate.
Their first 100 days have shown pace, purpose and a willingness to govern differently. They are beginning to change what councils prioritise, how public money is spent and how decisions are scrutinised, while showing residents that political change can mean a real change in direction.
A hundred days cannot transform a council, but it can establish direction. It can show whether an administration is listening, prepared to make difficult decisions and serious about delivering what it promised.
That is why Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage’s idea of ‘jeopardy pledges’ matters.
Future Reform UK ministers would make a clear 100-day commitment, with named responsibility and consequences for failure. The principle is bigger than any single pledge.
For too long, politicians have been able to make promises while voters carry almost all the risk when those promises are broken. That relationship has to change.
But accountability must reflect the powers actually held. Council leaders operate within statutory duties, funding settlements and national policy decisions they cannot simply rewrite.
Their responsibility is to be clear about what they can change, honest about the constraints they face, and accountable for the choices they make within them.
Government does not begin and end in Westminster and Whitehall. Its success or failure is felt every day in areas such as Walsall, Wakefield and communities across the country, where people see whether priorities change, whether their money is respected and whether those they elect remain accountable.
Our councils are not a rehearsal for government. They are government. It is a responsibility the whole movement should embrace with confidence and seriousness.
That is why their experience matters to Reform’s national ambition. Our growing responsibilities at the LGA matter, too. Chairing committees covering children and families, and culture, tourism and sport, gives us another opportunity to turn our slogan of ‘family, community and country’ into practical leadership.
Conference showed a party preparing seriously for national government. But credibility will not suddenly appear on the day Reform enters Whitehall.
It is being earned now, council by council.
- Find out more about the work of the LGA’s Reform UK Group.