Nigel Farage has vowed to reject migrants from Reform-run councils as he promises to make Trump-style cuts across local governments, slashing work from home jobs and positions in climate change and diversity.
In a speech in County Durham, where Reform replaced Labour, who were at the helm for almost 100 years, the Reform Leader said his party would ‘resist’ housing asylum seekers in their local authorities.
He claimed migrants were being ‘dumped into the north of England, [and] getting everything for free,’ before adding: ‘It is unfair, it is irresponsible, it is wrong in every way and I don’t believe Starmer has got the guts to deal with it.’
It is understood the Home Office runs the asylum seeker housing system, so it is not clear if Reform-run council would have the ability to block migrants.
The Reform leader also pledged to imitate Elon Musk‘s drive in the US to cut federal spending after being appointed the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by Trump.
Now, Farage, 61, whose party caused a political earthquake as they nabbed hundreds of local seats across the nation yesterday, and gained control of ten councils, has issued a stark warning for certain council roles in Durham.
The controversial political figure told workers, where Labour was previously the biggest party, to seek ‘alternative careers very, very quickly,’ if they were in roles relating to climate change, diversity or if they worked from home.
But experts have said there is very little left of council budgets to cut, with much of what is currently spent going towards services that must be supplied by law.
Mr Farage raised his hands as the incredibly tight result was read out in the Cheshire seat yesterday morning
Nigel Farage was joined on stage by Dame Andrea Jenkyns winner of Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty (L), and Sarah Pochin winner of the Runcorn and Helsby by-election (R)
Farage has pledged to imitate Elon Musk’s drive in the US to cut federal spending after being appointed the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by Trump
It comes as the ‘Reform-quake’ saw the Tories lose every council – 676 seats in total – as it found itself squeezed between Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats, while Labour saw 186 seats slip away.
The jubilant Reform party now runs a swath of big authorities for the first time – securing majorities on Kent, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lancashire county councils after a Conservative collapse.
In the Runcorn & Helby by-election, the party gained a new MP, Sarah Pochin, while elsewhere in Greater Lincolnshire they scored their very first metro mayor, former Conservative MP, Dame Andrea Jenkyns.
In an ominous warning, Farage recalled that people had mocked him for saying he would be the next PM, adding: ‘They’re not laughing now, are they?’
When queried about his party’s priorities, Farage told Today on BBC Radio 4: ‘We are deeply dissatisfied with the way that county councils and unitaries in Britain have been running their budgets.
‘We look at the millions a year being spent, in many cases, on consultants. We look at the money being spent on climate change; on areas that county councils, frankly, shouldn’t even be getting involved in.’
He promised to bring in auditors to assess long-term contracts as well as to introduce a ‘change of culture’by putting an end to working from home, adding: ‘That won’t be a magic wand, it won’t solve every problem, but it will be a good start.’
When asked if he would be able to show how much money had been saved in the next six months, he answered yes while also pressing the need for a DOGE-style department in every country.
Reform UK celebrating the historic local election victories in Paddock Wood, England.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the public were ‘fed up’ with Labour, but admitted they are not yet ready to trust her party and were instead turning to ‘protest’ outfits
‘Local government has gone under the radar for way too long,’ he said: ‘And if you’re a council tax payer and your bill’s going up 5 per cent every year, I think you deserve something better.’
And while the Reform leader warned council cuts could result in ‘life or death choices’, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit think tank, Jonathon Carr West, argued funding had already been significantly slashed.
He said the party had removed only around a third of their spending power with their proposals, adding most big council’s funding largely goes on adult social care and children’s service, which are statutory duties.
‘They are literally life-or-death issues. Sending someone to Mr Smith’s house to make sure he takes his medication … it’s not an optional extra, that’s what keeps him alive,’ he told The Times.
‘Safeguarding vulnerable children — these are all things that, as a society, we want to happen. Local authorities have a legal duty to make that happen.’
Mr Carr-West revealed the majority of local authorities would have a debt of £100 million or more as well as huge funding gaps for essential services.
And while he confessed it was ‘compelling’ to suggest some areas could be fixed if money was not ‘wasted’ in other places, it wasn’t ‘realistic’ to say the hundreds of millions needed could be found through efficiency savings.
It comes after Farage and his party made several Freedom of Information requests, where they discovered councils were spending money on several things like free driving lessons for asylum seekers and trips to the South of France for civil servants.
According to The Times, one council was dishing out a £1,000-a-day on a pothole consultant, as well as spending on diversity officers and net-zero schemes.
However Mr Carr-West argued ‘not a lot of money’ was used in these areas, adding that there were ‘merits’ to these programmes, as well as pointing issues relating to diversity was about complying with the legislation under the Equality Act.
A projected national vote share from the local election results put Reform on 30 per cent, ahead of Labour on 20 per cent, the Liberal Democrats on 17 per cent, and Tories on 15 per cent.
