Reform makes big gains in Worcestershire

The Conservatives have lost overall control of Worcestershire County Council after 20 years, with Reform UK the main beneficiary of a night the Tories would rather forget.

Going into Thursday's vote, the Tories held 45 seats on the authority - those have been whittled down to 12.

Reform - which already had two seats on the council, thanks to Tory defectors - now have 27, two short of an overall majority.

Their success mirrors the picture across England, where Reform has gained control of several councils.

Reform's first win was the first seat to be announced in Worcestershire, when Kidderminster gym owner Mark Crosby took St Georges in Wyre Forest.

He said he was "absolutely elated" for himself and the party - adding that the main takeaway from his campaigning was that people were ready for change.

Reform went on to win eight of the 10 seats in Wyre Forest, where the Tories only managed to keep hold of two.

Bill Hopkins, a former Conservative councillor who defected to Reform 18 months ago, kept hold of St Chads.

"The Conservatives have let us down; Labour are seemingly letting us down," he said. "People are so fed up. They want change, and we are the only party that can deliver change."

Reform picked up wins in each division - including, notably, Redditch, where every single one of the eight previously Conservative seats now belong to Nigel Farage's party.

It was a better picture for the Tories in Wychavon.

They remain the majority party in the division, despite losing seats to Reform, the Lib Dems, and the Greens.

Reform might have had one more, had it not been for a dead heat between its candidate and the Greens' prospective councillor in Littleton.

The outcome came down to drawing both candidates' names out of a box at random, with fortune smiling on the Greens' Hannah Robson.

"[It was] really terrifying," she said. "I thank the universe for letting my ballot paper come out the box."

In Worcester, council leader Simon Geraghty lost his Riverside seat after nearly ten years.

Conceding it had been "a difficult day" both for him and the Tories, Geraghty said, adding he had been "incredibly proud" to lead the authority.

But he said he was unclear as to what the county council would look like under Reform.

"They will have to have a set of policies - we don't know what they will be - to govern Worcestershire.

"We had a clear manifesto; we had a six-point plan for Worcestershire. I'm not sure what Reform will do.

And they will be faced with the same difficulties that we've faced."

Geraghty's seat went to Tor Pingree - one of eight which are now in the hands of the Greens.

She said people were growing "disheartened" with the two main parties.

"They want actual change in Worcester, and they haven't seen that," she said.

Describing her party as "snowballing", Pingree said she was confident the Greens could make a difference on the council.

"There's quite a lot of us now, and we have quite loud voices. So I'm hoping we can really make some change and switch things up."

Labour started the day with three seats on the council; that has been reduced to two.

Worcester's Labour MP Tom Collins suggested that was as much a reflection of people's dissatisfaction with the Tories as anything else - although he conceded that they were also likely frustrated with the pace of change since Labour's general election win.

He said it was now down to Reform to prove its worth.

"We've had some very simple answers proposed to very complex problems," he said of the party. "And now it's for them to demonstrate what they can actually do when they're given the opportunity."

Reform UK has delivered a seismic shock to the county's political scene, far exceeding their own expectations.

With 27 seats they are now the largest party on the council, although agonisingly for them, two seats short of an outright majority.

Together with gains made by the Greens, Reform's success is a sign many voters in Worcestershire want change and are now looking outside Labour and the Conservatives.

All eyes are on whether Reform can put together an administration, most likely a minority. During the campaign, Reform kept its key priorities relatively simple: an audit of the county council's finances to cut waste and ensure value for money, and a pledge to put any "spare" money into roads.

While some of its councillors are former Tories, many are making their first entry into local politics. While this freshness may have been part of the party's appeal, it may mean it takes them time to get to grips with running a local authority.

Additional reporting by Alistair Binney and Tom Edwards.

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