Farage says Reform UK facing 'obstructionism' in newly won councils
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said his party has a "fight on its hands" after complaining that his party is facing "obstructionism" in the councils Reform UK now controls.
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Farage's party took control of 10 councils in this year's May local elections, marking the first time the party has controlled any councils in local government.
It vowed to make a number of changes to the councils, including stopping council staff working from home, ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and reducing council expenditure.
Commenting on the party's progress in an interview with Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC's Sunday morning politics show, Farage said: "At the moment we're finding we are very hamstrung.
"We're going into existing administrations, we're facing obstructionism in many places, and Warwickshire is a very, very good example. The CEO wilfully defying what we want to do there."
Warwickshire County Council is currently led by Reform UK councillor George Finch, who is aged 19.
Finch recently butt heads with the council's chief executive Monica Fogarty after she refused his request to remove a Progress Pride flag from the council building.
Kuenssberg questioned Farage on a decision at Warwickshire to bring in external consultants at a cost of £190,000.
In response, Farage said: "Does George Finch need some professional figures around him? You bet your life he does.
"This is going to be a very big battle against the existing bureaucracies that exist in these councils that have been running bad practice for years. We've got a fight on our hands.
"It's better to have staff who support the will of the democratically elected councillors than it is to have public sector staff opposing it."
He went on to say that he believed Warwickshire was the "worst example of obstructionism", and claimed that the council does not "want to show us the books".
"We asked where is the money being spent, can we see the credit card statements? And we found genuine deliberate obstructionism," he said.
As part of its plans for local government, Reform UK established an internal review body - dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - tasked with scrutinising council finances, procurement practices and governance arrangements.
The team was first sent in to Kent County Council in June and has since offered its support to West Northamptonshire Council.
In preparation, West Northamptonshire's cabinet recently approved a legal framework to ensure it complies with the law when sharing data with the DOGE team.
A spokesperson for the council said: "No data has been shared so far, and the report establishes the framework under which information may possibly be shared in the future, including strict legal protections and confidentiality safeguards.
"Personal data held about residents, individual cases, or services are excluded from the information that may be shared."
It added: "Any insights gained will remain the council's property and won't be used for any political purposes. If new savings are identified, they will be brought forward through the usual budget setting process."
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