What Reform could do next

Reform UK saw a decisive set of victories at the local elections this week, and now has its eyes firmly on winning in Westminster at the next general election.

The party returned over 600 councillors, took control of ten councils and three mayoralties and won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes.

Writing on X as the results came in, party leader Nigel Farage called Reform’s success “unprecedented”, claiming that “in post-war Britain, no one has ever beaten both Labour and the Tories in a local election before”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted on Sunday that Reform is “a real threat” to Labour and may be the Government’s main challenge at the next general election.

With hundreds of new elected officials ready to get to work, here is how the party plans to lead its newly won councils and what it hopes to do should it win power at the next general election.

Asylum seeker crackdown

Immigration has been central to Reform’s message in the general and local elections, and Farage frequently raised the issue of asylum hotels on the campaign trail.

In a speech in County Durham following his party’s resounding victory in the local elections, he pledged to “resist” asylum seekers being housed in the counties where Reform was in control, claiming they were being “dumped into the north of England, getting everything for free”.

On Sunday, Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf said the party would use “every instrument of power available” to stop asylum seekers from being housed in hotels in areas where it now controls councils.

“Judicial reviews, injunctions, there’s planning laws,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, when asked how this would be possible.

“A lot of these hotels, when you suddenly turn them into something else which is essentially a hostel that falls foul of any number of regulations, and that’s what our teams of lawyers are exploring at the moment.”

Andrea Jenkyns, the former Tory MP who became Reform’s first ever elected mayor in Greater Lincolnshire this week, used her victory speech to call for migrants to be housed in tents instead of hotels.

“Now that Reform is in a place of power, we can help start rebuilding Britain. Inch by inch, Reform will reset Britain to its glorious past. We will tackle illegal migration. We’ve been working on policies,” she said.

“I say no to putting people in hotels. Tents are good enough for France, they should be good enough for here in Britain.”

The Home Office is responsible for housing adult asylum seekers, and while councils can raise objections, they have limited say over where people are housed.

Reform also used its 2024 election “contract” to set out its broader ambition for immigration controls should the party win power in Westminster.

It called for a freeze on all non-essential immigration with exceptions for those with “essential skills our economy needs such as doctors, nurses and successful business people, earning above the average salary”.

The party also set out a six-point plan to “stop the boats” which involves recognising the small boats crisis as a national security threat, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), ending all resettlement of illegal migrants in the UK, setting up offshore processing for arrivals and sending all boats back to France.

Other proposed measures include the immediate deportation of foreign criminals, tougher restrictions on dependents for student visas, and stricter penalties for companies employing illegal workers.

British DOGE

During the local election campaign, Farage set out his ambition to follow in the footsteps of tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is helming Donald Trump’s new Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The body, which aims to slash government spending, initially promised $2tn (£1.5tn) in savings, but a running total published on its website suggests it has so far only found $165bn (£124bn) in cuts.

Reform has said it wants to replicate this model in the areas now under the party’s control, with each local authority setting up its own mini-DOGE.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 following his party’s election success, Farage said: “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 pledged to “get the auditors in” and examine long-term contracts and impose a “change of culture”, adding: “No more work from home, increased productivity. That won’t be a magic wand, it won’t solve every problem, but it will be a good start and we’ll be judged on that.”

Reform also wants to institute significant cuts on a national level. At the general election, it pledged that if the party won power, it would require every manager across government to find 5 per cent savings.

It additionally proposed saving money by scrapping some of the 600 government departments and centrally funded bodies known as “quangos,” claiming the “public wouldn’t notice if many dozens were scrapped.”

War on woke

A key focus of Reform’s pledge to drive efficiency in local government has been on so-called “woke” issues, as well as a large number of staff working from home.

During a visit to Salisbury on the campaign trail, Farage criticised Wiltshire Council for being “pretty woke” and pointed to a decision to spend £323,000 on a bin lorry that “happens to be electric” in January as an example of “virtue signal spending”.

He also took aim at Hertfordshire Council, claiming that a portrait of Winston Churchill in the County Hall “now has to have a warning note about colonialism and racism”.

This is also a focus for the party on a national level, with Reform pledging to ban “transgender ideology” and critical race theory in schools and cut funding to universities that “undermine free speech”.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Yusuf said that in a Reform government, the party would erect statues of great British figures and end “all this woke nonsense.”

“How many times do you see a statue of a truly great Briton from the past being erected in Trafalgar Square?” he said.

Yusuf also promised that British values would be taught in schools, adding: “How many young people know who Isambard Kingdom Brunel is? Look at the character assassination that has occurred on the legacy of Sir Winston Churchill.

“The fact that they have to cover up his statue because they don’t want to provoke protesters. I mean that’s the sort of utterly indefensible so-called leadership that we’ve had and young people feel that in their bones.”

“You see the opposite. You see crazy modern art. I mean if people want to go and enjoy modern art, cool, go enjoy that. Don’t put it in Trafalgar Square.”

Other education policies put forward by Reform include tax relief for private school fees to encourage parental choice and an end to “rip-off” degrees.

Welfare and benefits

At the last election, Reform proposed a “two-strike rule” for benefits, requiring job seekers to accept work after two job offers or risk losing their benefits.

They also pledged to end remote assessments for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and encourage more 16- to 34-year-olds to enter the workforce.

Under a Reform government, child benefits would be frontloaded for children under four to support stay-at-home parents, and married couples would be allowed to share tax allowances.

A Royal Commission would also be established to reform social care, promising additional funding once a national plan is agreed upon.

Farage has attracted strong criticism from autism and mental health charities for some of his comments regarding his approach to disability benefits.

During the local election campaign, he told reporters in Dover that the UK is “massively overdiagnosing those with mental illness problems” and creating a “class of victims”.

“It’s a massive problem. I have to say, for my own money, when you get to 18 and you put somebody on a disability register, unemployed, with a high level of benefits, you’re telling people aged 18 that they’re victims,” he said.

“And if you are told you’re a victim, and you think you’re a victim, you are likely to stay [a victim].”

He continued: “I don’t think any of these allocations should be done by family GPs. I think it should be done independently.

“And I think we are massively – I’m not being heartless, I’m being frank – I think we are massively overdiagnosing those with mental illness problems and those with other general behavioural disabilities. And I think we’re creating a class of victims in Britain that will struggle ever to get out of it.”

Tax and economy

In its 2024 election “contract”, Reform pledged to overhaul the economy through sweeping tax cuts and regulatory reform if it were to win power.

The party proposed ending Bank of England interest payments on QE reserves, claiming it could save up to £40bn.

It also wants to scrap what it calls “unnecessary regulations,” which it says have cost the UK £143bn since 2015.

Tax reforms include raising the income tax threshold to £20,000, removing 7 million people from tax altogether, and increasing the higher rate threshold to £70,000.

Inheritance tax would be scrapped on estates under £2m, with a flat 20 per cent rate on larger estates—down from the current 40 per cent.

Corporation tax would be reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, then to 15 per cent over five years, with a higher profit threshold of £100,000.

Additionally, the party calls for a major simplification of the tax system, contrasting the UK’s 21,000-page code with Hong Kong’s 500-page equivalent.

The party plans to cut stamp duty to 0 per cent for homes under £750,000, with rates of 2 per cent on homes up to £1m and 4 per cent on those over £1.5m, claiming this would stimulate the economy and housebuilding.

They also propose planning reforms to accelerate construction on brownfield sites and infrastructure projects, especially in northern and coastal areas. For social housing, local residents would be prioritised, with foreign nationals placed at the back of the queue.

Defence and foreign policy

On defence and foreign policy, Reform said during the 2024 election campaign that it wanted to cut the foreign aid budget in half—saving £6bn—and halt payments to countries like China and India.

They also said they wanted to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP within three years and 3 per cent within six.

Labour has largely matched this pledge, announcing earlier this year that it will increase defence expenditure to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, with a further rise to 3 per cent in the next parliament, contingent on economic and fiscal conditions.

While aid spending has not been halved as Reform hoped, it has been reduced from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of GDP to fund the increased defence spending.

Reform has also said it wants to scrap the Windsor Framework, renegotiate EU trade agreements, reform defence procurement to find significant savings, and incentivise the defence industry through tax breaks.

It also pledged that veterans would benefit from a pay review, legal protections, priority in Civil Service hiring, access to public services, improved accommodation, and the creation of a dedicated veterans’ department.

Policing and justice

Reform has said it would significantly expand police numbers, aiming for 300 officers per 100,000 people—a 40,000-officer increase—while using technology to reduce paperwork.

The criminal justice budget would rise from £10bn to £12bn to improve staffing and cut delays, with specific funding increases to tackle organised crime. As a cost-saving measure, Police and Crime Commissioners would also be abolished.

Reform proposes introducing a “zero-tolerance” model, inspired by New York, which would mandate prison for violent offences and life sentences for drug dealing or repeat serious crimes.

The party would also end what it calls “woke policing” by eliminating diversity and inclusion roles, reforming the police watchdog, and changing hate crime definitions.

Ten thousand new prison places would be built, including using disused military bases if necessary, to address the current prison crisis.