Reform at the helm: A year in the life of two councils

Reform UK performed strongly in last week's local elections, gaining more than a dozen councils and more than 1,400 councillors across the country.

It comes a year after the party seized control of Northamptonshire's two unitary authorities from the Conservatives, who had dominated the county's political landscape for two decades.

Twelve months on, how has it performed and are there any clues as to what the rest of the country can expect from their new Reform councillors?

Within weeks of taking control of the councils, it was announced that Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) teams would be descending on Northamptonshire.

Reform's Doge teams were based on those set up in the US by Donald Trump and headed by tech billionaire Musk, aimed at ending the "tyranny of bureaucracy", save taxpayers' money and cut the US national debt.

Indeed, there were photos taken outside Northampton Guildhall when Reform's Doge supremo Zia Yusuf came for preliminary meetings with West Northamptonshire Council.

But to date, Doge has not yet been to either authority.

Earlier this year, both councils set and approved their first budgets and both increased council tax: West Northamptonshire by 4.95% and North Northamptonshire by the maximum amount possible, 4.99%.

Both councils, like most across the country, are having budgets stretched by increasing demand for services such as adult social care, children's services and temporary accommodation.

Mark Arnull, West Northamptonshire's leader, said the party found a £50m budget deficit on taking power and had since achieved £32m of efficiency savings, which included "really difficult choices" around raising taxes and parking charges.

Arnull said: "One of the early finds was IT licensing where we were giving licenses for Microsoft software, for example, to people who don't need it. That alone identified £960,000 of savings within three years."

Martin Griffiths, North Northamptonshire's leader, has also been approached for comment.

Just a month after being elected, both authorities introduced a new flag policy, dictating that only the union jack, St George's and council flags would be flown from council buildings.

Under the new protocol, both authorities said additional flags would be flown on specified dates for royal or national occasions.

The Royal College of Nursing and Unite criticised the councils for no longer flying the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag, claiming it "undermines efforts to create inclusive, welcoming communities".

Soon after, both councils removed the net zero targets set by the previous administrations.

North Northamptonshire pushed its target back from 2030 to 2050, while West Northamptonshire scrapped its target altogether.

West Northamptonshire faced opposition to a number of policies, including the introduction of parking charges in market towns.

The authority eventually U-turned on this, although it has recently launched a consultation to introduce charges at some country parks.

In April, it approved plans to introduce bin collections every three weeks to create a "single consistent system" across the district, although that decision is facing further scrutiny.

It also introduced a booking system for its waste centres and, despite fears this would increase fly-tipping, the council said it had actually seen a reduction.

Opinion polls have shown that the state of the roads is a major concern among voters.

Nationally, Reform's key election pledges have included improving roads. So, have they got any better?

Earlier this year West Northamptonshire was one of 13 local authorities that received red ratings from the Department for Transport for the state of their roads and how they were spending government money on repairs.

The council hit back at the government's potholes map, saying that had "more engagement taken place", it was "certain we would not have received a red rating".

Despite that, it remains on a red rating.

The situation is similar in North Northamptonshire where Chris McGiffen, Reform councillor with responsibility for highways, said keeping on top of pothole repairs felt like "an impossible task".

"No matter what we're doing at the moment, it's not enough," he said.

"We need to spend an awful lot more money, which we simply do not have."

The situation was so bad in Corby that it led to one man filling potholes with soil and flowers to highlight the state of its roads.

Across West Northamptonshire, three hotels are being used as accommodation for asylum seekers.

For months now, the council has been battling the Home Office over its use of hotels.

In September the authority issued planning contravention notices to the hotel owners. Later in the year, it set up a taskforce to work on its continued action.

Last month, Arnull wrote to the home secretary to demand clear closure dates and greater transparency over use of the hotels.

Speaking to BBC Radio Northampton on Tuesday, Arnull said: "They [the hotels] shouldn't be there in the first place.

"Our services are already overstretched without us having to intervene. It's the government's responsibility, not the West Northamptonshire residents' responsibility.

"I write to the government frequently. I'm very clear about the communications I have with the Home Office and home secretary.

"It's not good enough. They are closing hotels in other areas and they're not willing to tell me when they're closing the ones in our area.

"The government need to do more."

The government has promised to stop using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers by July 2029.

Both councils have had by-elections in the last year.

The first was in North Northamptonshire in the Lloyds and Corby Village ward after Robert Bloom stood down in August last year following allegations he used racial slurs to neighbours.

Reform retained the seat.

In West Northamptonshire, a by-election for the Hackleton and Roade ward took place this month after the resignation of independent councillor Adam Smith.

Originally elected as a Reform councillor, the party suspended him last June.

At the time, the party said he had been suspended due to "a number of concerns".

Again, Reform retained this seat.

The councils have also seen a number of defections over the last year.

In March, two West Northamptonshire councillors resigned, and now sit as independents.

In a statement at the time, Kathryn Shaw said it had not been an "easy decision", but she could "more effectively advocate for strong safeguarding systems" outside the party structure.

Fellow councillor Joanne Blythe said she could no longer continue under the current leadership over concerns about "what I perceive to be misogynistic undertones in the treatment I have received".

Reform said it was "disappointing" Shaw had resigned, and that Blythe "has been suspended pending investigation after indicating her intention to become an independent councillor".

Two North Northamptonshire councillors defected to Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain party, but within days, one of them had reapplied to join Reform and was readmitted in April.

Arnull is very clear that they are.

He said that last week's local elections were an endorsement that Reform could govern effectively.

"We've returned 1,500 councillors to office across the country and won a by-election in West Northamptonshire last week quite significantly," he said.

"There's an appetite for change that's reflected across the country. The work continues; the work continues to be transparent to our residents.

"People are still fighting for changes, they're listening to what we're doing and they're still supporting, in spite of the difficult decisions we have to take in their interests."

Opposition parties, however, have been critical of Reform.

North Northamptonshire's Conservative group leader, Helen Harrison, commented: "Reform UK swept to power in North Northamptonshire in May last year on a pledge to cut wasteful spending and reduce taxes.

"Instead, in their first budget they have relied on the savings and efficiency plans that we Conservatives had already identified; imposed above inflation rises in garden waste collection and school transport costs and have raised council tax in three different ways.

"It seems to me that, having achieved power, they have no problem with breaking their election promises. I don't think the North Northants public are getting what they voted for."

Sally Keeble, Labour group leader on West Northamptonshire Council, said: "The impact of Reform's hostility to diversity, equality and inclusion has undermined some of the good work done by West Northants Council and the strong community relations built up over many years.

"That has not been helped by negative comments and social media posts by some of the Reform councillors.

"My biggest concern is about the lack of progress in housing. We desperately need more social housing and tougher controls on the bedsitlands being created to accommodate single people."

"There have been some local successes, but there are very big challenges ahead for the council, especially the future of the refuse services, housing, children's services and the regeneration of Northampton."

Liberal Democrat group leader on West Northamptonshire Council, Jonathan Harris, said: "From my perspective, one year on, the council has failed to move forward in any meaningful way.

"We have seen no innovation, no change, no progress. The council has the worst state of the roads in years. Reform councillors have left their group over misogyny accusations."

Emily Fedorowycz, Green group leader on North Northamptonshire Council, said: "A year on, residents were promised change, yet for many people across North Northamptonshire, daily life has only become more difficult.

"Despite the rhetoric, this administration has failed to deliver meaningful progress on the key financial pressures facing the council or the practical issues affecting local communities."

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