Last week the people of Lancashire delivered a verdict that no political textbook could have predicted. Reform UK took outright control of Lancashire County Council, winning 53 of the 84 seats and leaving the once-dominant Conservatives with just eight. For the first time since the council was created in 1974, neither the Labour Party nor the Conservatives are the largest party at County Hall. This is a genuinely historic moment, and I'm proud to be part of it as the new County Councillor for Preston East.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The composition of the new council is staggering. Reform UK holds 53 seats, the Conservatives eight, Independents seven, Labour just five, the Liberal Democrats five, the Greens four, and West Lancashire Independents two. Labour, which once treated Lancashire as a heartland, is now reduced to a rump of five councillors in a county of 1.5 million people. The Conservatives, who held this council on and off for half a century, have been wiped out.
This is not a flash in the pan. It is a deliberate, conscious decision by the voters of Lancashire to throw out the failed two-party consensus that has presided over rising council tax, declining services, and the slow hollowing-out of our county. People voted for change because the old parties offered them nothing but managed decline dressed up in different rosettes.
What Reform UK Control Means for Lancashire
Under Reform UK leadership, Lancashire County Council will look different. We have made specific commitments to the people who voted for us, and we intend to honour them. Lower council tax rises than the political consensus assumed were inevitable. A relentless focus on the services that matter—adult social care, children's services, road maintenance, waste collection. No more pet-project spending on nonsense that doesn't touch ordinary residents' lives.
We've already seen what Reform UK councils elsewhere have delivered. According to The Telegraph, Reform UK councils delivered the lowest average council tax rises of any party in the last round of budgets. We didn't do it by slashing services. We did it by stopping waste, scrutinising contracts, and refusing to accept that every line of council spending was untouchable. That is the approach Lancashire will now see at the county level.
The Establishment Said It Couldn't Happen
It is worth remembering what we were told in the run-up to this election. The Westminster commentariat insisted Reform UK was a protest vote that would fade. They said councils need "experienced" administrators—by which they meant the same people who delivered the mess we inherited. They said Reform UK candidates were too inexperienced, too young, too rough around the edges. The voters disagreed. They wanted people who looked and sounded like them, not a professional political class that had forgotten what it was like to pay a council tax bill on a normal wage.
I'm 19. I represent Preston East. I've been told I'm too young. Voters didn't think so. Across the country, Reform UK councillors are taking office who have actually lived in the communities they represent—rather than being parachuted in by a central party machine. That is a strength, not a weakness.
The Work Starts Now
The campaign is over. The work begins. Lancashire faces serious challenges: a social care system under strain, a road network in disrepair, a county council finances bruised by years of consensus mismanagement. Reform UK councillors did not seek office to make speeches. We sought office to fix things. Constituents in Preston East, and across the county, can expect us to be visible, to answer our emails, and to deliver on the promises we made.
This is a historic moment for Lancashire. It is also a moment of responsibility. We have been trusted with the largest county council outside London. We will earn that trust every day we hold office.