Farage 'will fight' Essex council reorganisation

2 hours ago

Simon DedmanEssex political reporter, in Corringham

News image — Nigel Farage told the BBC he was "deeply sceptical about these changes" to the number of councils in Essex

BBC Nigel Farage close up. He is talking to people in a crowd. He is wearing a blue suit and shirt with a stripy tie. A young male wearing a white shirt with a rucksack is holding a smartphone in front of his chest - possibly taking a photo of Farage. There are security guards in the background. — Nigel Farage told the BBC he was "deeply sceptical about these changes" to the number of councils in Essex

Reform leader Nigel Farage has said he is "deeply sceptical" about changes to local councils in Essex.

The current 15 authorities and two levels of local government are due to be abolished and replaced with between three and five all-purpose unitary councils.

"We should fight against this," Clacton MP Farage told the BBC. "I think that to maintain overall the presence of an identifiable county council is the right way to go."

A government spokesperson said: "We're simplifying local government and ending confusing two-tier structures in Essex, so these authorities work better for local people."

SIMON DEDMAN/BBC Nigel Farage posing for a selfie with a young man holding up an iphone which is covering up his face. Behind him are people who have come out on the street to see the Reform UK leader. They are standing next to a shop with a sign saying spanish cleaning. — Nigel Farage warned you could lose a sense of what Essex is with local government reorganisation in Corringham this week.

Speaking while campaigning in Corringham ahead of the local elections on 7 May, Farage said: "The idea that you take the county of Essex, you carve it up into a series of unitaries, you then impose a mayor upon it — nobody here has asked for massive local government change.

"Nobody here has asked for Essex to have a mayor.

"I think the danger is that you get rid of the county council... and you begin to lose a sense of what Essex as a county is."

The party leader said Reform would try to put a stop to LGR.

The latest plans for the biggest reshape in local democracy in half a century in Essex have been worked on by different councils and political parties for years.

Fewer all-purpose unitary councils are expected to save money and be simpler for residents. Opponents argue local government will not be so local with councillors representing larger areas.

A woman with shoulder length blonde hair holding a big blue placard saying vote looking towards a man to her right with glasses and wearing a dark suit and blue tie. They are at a Conservative party rally. — Deputy county council leader Louise McKinlay warned there would be a lot of waste if LGR does not go ahead

Deputy county council leader, Conservative Louise McKinlay, argued "it just demonstrates Nigel Farage knows nothing about local government".

McKinlay, who supports the three-unitary model for Essex, said the existing councils were facing challenges.

"We know the financial pressures are there. It is only going to get harder," she said.

"We have got increases in social care. We know we want to go far further and do more for our county. By having that joined approach through the councils coming together we will be in a much stronger place."

Basildon Council A graphic map, colour coordinated with purple, yellow, green, grey and pink, showing what the five Essex councils could look like. Braintree, Colchester and Tendring are in pink; Brentwood, Chelmsford and Maldon are in green; Basildon and Thurrock are in purple; Castle Point, Rochford and Southend are in yellow and Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford are in grey. — Colours show how the districts and existing unitary councils could be merged under a five-council model

However, some Reform councillors have supported LGR.

Peter Harris, the party's Greater Essex mayoral candidate, was also Farage's election agent in Clacton.

In January, he said: "We need to get behind [LGR] and make sure that it happens."

Other political parties hold different views on LGR. Most Conservative council leaders back the three-council option though some Tory MPs prefer the five-council option, which is widely supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

However, Labour-run Thurrock Council has proposed a four-council model.

Farage's position raises doubt over whether LGR can be delivered.

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After legal pressure from Reform, the Labour government changed its mind and said this year's elections should go ahead.

At the time, the Labour leader of Basildon Borough Council, Gavin Callaghan, said: "There is now no doubt that LGR in Essex is over."

McKinlay, who is the Conservative mayoral candidate for Greater Essex, added: "If it unravels it is simply going to mean there's going to have been a lot of wasted time, effort, energy, money, collaboration and focus which we have all put in cross-party, across the county.

"Going forward it will be mean we can't take advantage of the economies of scale."

A spokesperson for the Department for Housing, Communities & Local Government said: "Our plans will make public services better and deliver positive change for communities."

It is understood the government could announce next week how many councils Essex will have.

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