Nigel Farage visits Lancashire County Council

Nigel Farage has told the new Reform UK administration at Lancashire County Council that how they perform will play a part in how well the party does at the next general election in 2029.

He was speaking during a visit to the authority’s headquarters where he congratulated members of the now ruling group on their success in last month’s local elections.

The Reform leader said he was aware that “something was happening in Lancashire” ahead of that poll, which saw the party sweep to victory, ousting the Conservatives after eight years in charge.

However, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that never in his “wildest dreams” did he think it was likely that they would secure 53 seats and a comfortable majority.

Having done so, he explained to the cabinet, the local party now bore a “very heavy weight of responsibility” in the work that lies ahead for it.

It also emerged during the visit that the controversial Reform ‘DOGE’ unit – modelled on the spend-slashing Department of Government Efficiency previously run by Elon Musk in the United States – would be arriving at County Hall next week.

Opposition politicians have questioned the desirability and practicality of having a politically-appointed team scouring the local authority for savings.

During his 90-minute trip to the county – which began with him being presented with a Lancashire rose lapel pin by new county council leader Stephen Atkinson – Nigel Farage addressed both the new Reform cabinet and the wider group of Reform members, who greeted him with enthusiastic applause.

He told them:  “We will be judged [and] – without wishing to put too much of a burden on your shoulders – [when it comes to] how we do at the next general election, you will be a very important component part.

“You’ve been put here by the voters in Lancashire, you’ve been asked to make savings where they’re appropriate, you’ve been asked to uphold high standards of behaviour in public life and you’ve been asked to do the best for the county – and I know that in your hearts, all of you absolutely want to do that

“Get this right – improve the county, improve people’s lives – and you will all feel an immense sense of pride.”

Turning to the new cabinet member for highways, Warren Goldsworthy, he joked:  “Potholes – you’d better get it right,” adding:

“[But] this is the stuff that affects people’s lives.  Young kids, people without much money, get a puncture [from a pothole] – it’s a real issue.”

He also highlighted challenges in adult social care, services for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and the county council’s £1.2bn of debt which attracts interest payments of £100,000 per day.

He claimed that while all incoming administrations “blame” their predecessors, “genuinely in Lancashire what we have inherited is a mess”.

Mr. Farage said there was “nothing this Labour government would like more” than to be able to say “Reform has failed in Lancashire”.

But we are not going to let them do that, because we’re going to do the job [and] we’re going to do it well,” he added.”

New Lancashire County Council leader Stephen Atkinson also revealed during the visit that he had already written to the government to make a good on an election pledge to request “legally binding” referenda on two thorny political issues – the prospect of Lancashire getting an elected mayor and a ministerial demand for the county to scrap its 15 councils, including the county council, and replace them with just a handful of new ones.

Nigel Farage ended his cabinet roundtable discussion by telling the portfolio holders that he was confident they would be “absolutely trying your hardest and delivering the results”, before adding with a jocular bang of his fist on the table: “Or else.”

That sentiment – and the visit itself – perhaps a reflection of the degree to which he can sense that after so long on the national and European stage, his future success is inextricably bound up with the fortunes of local authorities like Lancashire County Council, where voters will get to judge Reform UK on how they use power once it is theirs.

‘What Reform does locally matters to people’

Asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) whether his heart really lay in local government after so many years operating on a higher political plain, Nigel Farage said he was “working in reverse”.

On the issues he was now contending with he said:   “This matters to ordinary folk. This matters to council taxpayers. This matters to people without much money, who hit a pothole and face a huge bill.

“It matters to people who’ve got kids that really do have bad educational problems. It matters to elderly people who need social care. So interestingly, the impact of a county council on a family and on everyday life is probably greater than the impact of national government.”

Having revealed that the Reform DOGE team would be coming to County Hall next week, Mr. Farage said it was impossible to say what they may uncover in terms of savings until they started looking.

He added that he hoped the new Reform administration would be able to stand on a record of “better value for money” and the “beginning of an improvement on the pothole situation where no one really knows what the true figure is”.

PARTY PRIORITIES

Nigel Farage’s visit provided the backdrop for the new Reform cabinet at Lancashire County Council to set out some of their priorities for the first time.   Here’s a flavour of what they told their national party leader to expect from the early days of the administration at County Hall

On potholes…

Cabinet member for highways Warren Goldsworthy said the authority had not previously been basing its recording of – and response to – potholes on the actual number that exist on the county’s roads.

During the cabinet discussion with Mr. Farage, that figure was claimed to be 84,000.   But County Cllr Goldsworthy said:  “We are recording less five percent of those and we are judging our success on five percent…and making financial plans [on that basis].

He said a more accurate assessment of the state of the roads needed to be undertaken.and revealed the authority was planning on trialing the use of “AI sensors” on bin lorries in order to build up a better picture.

“We have vehicles that travel every single road in Lancashire, every week [or] if not, every fortnight, “ he explained.

Asked by Nigel Farage about the road repair work the county council contracts out to a third party, County Cllr Goldsworthy said that while a deal agreed last year did “cut costs considerably”, he was “yet to determine” whether it was the best arrangement.

“Although these potholes should have a guaranteed period of two years, the contract only stipulates six months.  If they’re not confident enough to give it the two years, that would make me ask the question as to why that is,” County Cllr Goldsworthy said.

It was not clear from the discussion which particular highways contract was being referred to.  The LDRS understands some road maintenance work is carried out in-house by the county council.

On adult social care…

County Cllr Graham Dalton, the new cabinet member for adult social care, said “outcomes” were his top priority and that his focus would be on “efficiency”.

Praising the staff and officers in the service as “excellent”, he said they had been set a savings target of £23.5m this year, adding:  “They will do it.”

Last year, there was a near £35m savings ambition within adult services, but less than £4m of it was achieved.

County Cllr Dalton also said he wanted to bring personal experience to bear to the role via his background as a nurse.

“[A service being] led by a professional has a different aspect [to it].  I sit in the same place where the staff sit and go out [and] do these assessments – we’ve got a horrendous backlog of [them].