A year ago, the political class told themselves Reform UK was a flash in the pan. The voters disagreed. In the May 2026 local elections, Reform UK won 1,453 councillor positions - a gain of 1,451 seats - and took control of 14 councils across England. As a Reform councillor myself, I can tell you what that feels like on the ground: it feels like people finally being heard. This was not a protest. It was a mandate.
From Opposition to Administration
Winning seats is one thing. Governing is another, and that is the test we asked voters to hold us to. Across the country, Reform-run councils are now doing what we said we would do. We promised to scrap the crazy net-zero targets that drive up costs and deliver nothing for local residents, and to stop spending public money chasing fashionable targets instead of fixing roads and emptying bins. That work has started.
Cutting the Waste the Old Parties Defended
For years, Labour and Conservative councils alike treated residents' money as their own. Net-zero box-ticking, bloated communications budgets, pet projects that never touched the lives of ordinary people. Reform councils are going through the books line by line. The principle is simple and it is one every household understands: if you would not spend your own money on it, you should not spend the taxpayer's money on it either.
Holding Ourselves to Account
I will be honest, because honesty is the whole point of why people voted for us. Governing is hard. Councils inherited years of mismanagement, tight budgets and difficult choices, and we will not get every decision right. But the difference is this: we will tell people the truth about the choices in front of us, rather than hiding behind spin. The people of Preston East and communities like it across the country wanted representatives who would treat them as adults. That is exactly what they are getting.
One year in, the message to the old parties is plain. The two-party stitch-up that took voters for granted is over. Reform UK is in the room, getting to work, and we intend to earn the trust placed in us - one council, one budget, one straight answer at a time.