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Farage meets councillors after big gains in county

Martin Heath
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Laura Coffey
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Reporting fromCorby
Laura Coffey/BBC Eddie McDonald with very short hair and grey beard, Martin Griffiths with short white hair and Nigel Farage with short white hair. They are all wearing blue jackets and light blue ties. Farage has both hands up as he is explaining something. There are glass doors behind them.Laura Coffey/BBC
Nigel Farage (right) met the leader of the council, Martin Griffiths (centre) and the deputy leader, Eddie McDonald

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said taking control of a county's two local authorities was beyond his "wildest dreams".

He has been visiting North Northamptonshire Council, where the party has 40 of the 68 councillors following victory in the May election.

It also took control of West Northamptonshire Council, the county's other unitary authority.

Farage said he would make sure councillors did not "spend too much time discussing climate change".

During a visit to the Corby Cube, where he met Reform UK's local leadership, he described the result in the area as "one of the stranger ones".

He said he expected the party would win in Lancashire, Kent and Lincolnshire but admitted: "I didn't in my wildest dreams think we'd win in North and West Northamptonshire.

"I didn't even think it was possible."

Laura Coffey/BBC Nigel Farage with short dark hair wearing glasses and a blue jacket accepts a brown wicker hamper containing a red and yellow Northamptonshire flag and locally-made wine and jam. A man has his hard in the basket, showing Farage around the contents. There are people standing in front of a red bench in the background, with a window behind them.Laura Coffey/BBC
Nigel Farage was presented with a hamper of locally made gifts including wine, jam and a Northamptonshire flag

The scale of the victory meant some candidates with little experience of local politics were voted in.

Farage said: "We've got a group of people elected who, whilst maybe not deeply experienced politically, bring a lot of different life skills to the table, so I'm optimistic."

He made a speech to the Reform UK group on the council and sat in on a cabinet meeting.

Setting out his wish list for all councils controlled by Reform, he said: "We will deliver efficiency, we'll deliver value for money, we'll make sure these councils focus on the real priorities and not spend too much time taking about climate change."

Helen Harrison with long brown hair tied back wearing glasses looking to the right of the camera. She is wearing a red and white dress to which a microphone is attached. There is a glass-fronted building, the Corby Cube, behind her.
The Conservative opposition leader Helen Harrison said her party would be "a critical friend" to the Reform UK group

North Northamptonshire Council's Conservative opposition group leader Helen Harrison said her party would be "a critical friend" to the Reform UK group.

But she added: "We won't hesitate to speak out if we think they are going wrong."

Speaking to the BBC, Farage also played down the suspension of one of his party's West Northamptonshire councillors 34 days after the election.

He said: "Look the number of members of Parliament that get kicked out or suspended.

"If you get a large number of people elected, you will have difficulties."

Laura Coffey/BBC Nigel Farage with short white hair in a blue suit standing next to Martin Griffiths in front of a group of councillors, many of whom are in suits. There is a white North Northamptonshire banner behind them on a wall of wooden slats.Laura Coffey/BBC
Farage met Reform UK's councillors and said some were "not deeply experienced politically"

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