Reform-run council told it could stop solar farm

Newly-elected Reform UK councillors have been celebrating after they swept to power and took control of Staffordshire County Council, but were warned their task was not straightforward.

Party leader Nigel Farage spoke to members at the County Showground after results came in and listed some of the decisions they could make.

He said among their choices were saying no to a proposed wind farm in the Staffordshire Moorlands and a solar farm in Cheadle while he also suggested days were numbered in the county for those with a "woke" agenda.

Farage told Reform councillors: "I wish you all the luck in the world. It won't be easy, it will be a learning curve, but it is an incredible opportunity."

The final tally for Staffordshire shows Reform now has 49 out of 62 seats after winning 41% of the overall vote.

Going into the election, Reform had no councillors in the county and the Conservatives held 53 of the 62 seats.

Farage branded the authority under the previous Conservative administration as "very woke".

He said: "Maybe a bit of a warning if you do work for Staffordshire County Council and you are involved in climate change policy, or involved with DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), or anything like that, it may be time to go and look for a different job."

He added: "Here in Staffordshire we are now in charge.

"County councils are there to perform basic functions for taxpayers. We want to slim down the size of local government and re-prioritise it on what its job really is."

Separately, on the topic of such streamlining, Farage has spoken of his wish for there to be "a Doge in every county" - a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency set up by US President Donald Trump with the aim of cutting government spending.

Tony Travers, professor of public policy at the London School of Economics, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there had been 15 years of cuts to local council budgets and warned it would be "very, very hard to find substantial savings in this part of the public sector".

While in Staffordshire, Farage also raised the issue of asylum seekers, saying: "There is a sense of unfairness, bordering on resentment, that tens of thousands of young men come into our country, get put up in hotels, get given everything."

Councils don't have control over nationwide immigration policy, although Farage has said Reform will "resist central government plonking hundreds of these young men in these counties that we now run".

The Home Office is in charge of housing adult asylum seekers while a decision is made on whether they can continue to live in the UK and it is unclear how councils could stop people being accommodated in their area.

Martin Murray, Reform UK's Staffordshire county co-ordinator and new councillor for Cannock town, said the feeling after the election was "one of excitement, exhilaration and anticipation to get started to do that work".

He said: "I knew the day was coming up when we were going to take control of this council. I could feel it across the streets of the whole county.

"We have gone beyond expectations and we thank everybody for that vote of confidence and we will deliver back to it."

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