New councillors need six months' prep, says Reform

The leader of Reform UK in Suffolk has said it will take six months for the party's new councillors to be trained up as it takes control of the county council.

On Friday, Reform ended the Conservatives' 20-year reign at Suffolk County Council when it won 41 of the 70 seats in the local elections.

The Green Party secured 13 seats, the Tories won nine, Labour took three and the Liberal Democrats and independents took two each.

Chris Hudson, the leader of Reform in Suffolk, told BBC Radio Suffolk's Wayne Bavin that the new councillors would be put through training for their new "important" jobs.

"The people who were elected from whatever party and they've not done it before... they have to be put into an academy that will probably take up to six months with a day of intensive training," he explained.

"This is an important job. We are the directors of a company that spends a £1bn of your money every year, more than £1bn.

"Therefore as directors they are responsible in law... people like me who have been voted in, [it's a] big responsibility."

He added: "We've got to be trained up... you come in and you learn what the job is, what we have to do, what we should be doing, best practice because this is a really important job."

However the government is planning to replace two-tier council systems, including in Suffolk, with unitary authorities as part of local government reorganisation.

In Suffolk elections for shadow authorities will take place from May next year, before the new councils formally take over in May 2028.

In February, the county council approved its budget of £850m for the 2026-2027 financial year.

But Hudson said savings needed to be made and "nothing is off the table" when asked if there could be job cuts at the council.

"There's no money so we've got to make compensatory savings," he continued.

"We've got to look at every penny... our people know that we don't want to depress them, we've got to make savings.

"They voted for change, they're going to get change and that involves savings."

Meetings to decide who in Reform would lead the council will take place this week, according to Hudson, who said he intended to put his name forward for the position.

During the election count on Friday, Reform candidates also refused to speak to any of the media present.

When asked why they had done this, Hudson said that he "didn't have a clue" and that "it certainly didn't come through me".

"I had nothing along those lines at all... I personally never avoid the media," he added.

"We're put there by the people to speak truth and I think at the end of the day, never run away from the media is good advice," he said.

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