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‘Rabbits in the headlights’: What happens when Reform takes over your council

Reform’s key message for the last few months can be summed up in one word: professionalism.

They want you to believe that their party is fizzing with clever people and bright ideas and unstoppable momentum.

“The talent pool that has availed itself to us, even over the last few months, as we’ve gone up in the polls and been on this journey, is incredible,” said chairman Zia Yusuf recently.

But appearances can be deceiving.

HOPE not hate has been speaking to sources at the ten councils now controlled by Reform, ones like Durham, Lincolnshire, and Kent. The impression that we have been hearing is the opposite of professionalism.

It sounds like cluelessness. Reform councillors, we're told, are now being confronted with a lack of understanding about how the council runs, and are discovering that it’s actually hard work.

“They assumed the council was a load of people fannying around, working from home,” said a source at one Reform-led council. “They had no idea what the job actually entailed. Now they are like rabbits in the headlights.”

Nowhere is this clearer than in Nottinghamshire where James Walker-Gurley, Reform’s councillor and cabinet member for economic development and asset management, gave a startling interview.

He was asked about the relationship between his team and the East Midlands combined authority, and his answer was: “I have no idea.”

When asked what the priorities for his role was, he read off a piece of paper, stumbling over words like “congestion” and “strategic”. It was painful.

New councillors are probably going to be inexperienced. Our criticism isn’t with Walker-Gurley not yet knowing the intricacies of council business.

But it does matter when Reform is trying to sell itself on the basis of its “talent pool”. Is someone who doesn’t know how Nottinghamshire County Council relates to the East Midlands Combined County Authority the best person to make them run more efficiently?

🤮 The Reform Cinematic Universe

It’s populated with hasbeens and also-rans who fell out with Nigel Farage but remain on the sidelines. This week, two of them — Reform’s former deputy Ben Habib and Rupert Lowe MP — revealed new projects on the same day. Habib launched his new v̶a̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶ political party, Advance UK. Lowe’s idea, meanwhile, is Restore Britain. It seems to be a crowdfunded policy platform.

Involved is Charlie Downes, a far-right activist who has referred to refugees as “invaders”, and Susan Hall, the failed Tory candidate for London mayor who liked social media posts endorsing Enoch Powell.

Advance UK and Restore Britain have caught the attention of Elon Musk, who posted flame emojis under Lowe’s announcement and a “Bravo!” under Habib’s. Both Brits, who fawningly thanked the tech tycoon, must be thinking of the $100 million that Musk, at one point, thought about giving to Farage.

👎 Speaking of Enoch Powell

HOPE not hate has exposed Reform’s new director of campaigns as a supporter of Enoch Powell and the far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.

Step forward Michael Hadwen, a young ex-Tory political strategist. In a tweet about the problems of “unchecked multiculturalism”, he wrote: “Enoch was right, he was just before the times.” Powell is beloved by the far right for his Rivers of Blood speech, and the phrase “Enoch was right” is a slogan used by extremists to express anti-immigrant desires.

🤔 A Reform power couple has split

The donor and possible MP candidate Holly Valance (who used to be on Neighbours) and billionaire property developer Nick Candy are divorcing.

Valance is said to be one of Farage’s closest friends, and spoke at his 60th birthday. Candy is Reform’s treasurer and was tasked with bringing in big donors and putting in seven figures of his own money. Neither have materialised.

“All talk and no trousers,” is how Candy’s fundraising failures were described by a Reform source. What does this break-up mean for the party’s inner circle?

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