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In May, reform swept the board in
England's local elections,
winning almost 700 seats and taking
control of 12 councils and two mayoral
authorities. God,
>> you would want to put me in charge.
That was a joke, by the way. For the
last four months, I've been following
its new crop of leaders as they exercise
their authority.
>> You've taken it down.
>> It will be coming down today
>> and try to deliver change in local
government.
>> Less than two months after taking
control of Warikshire County Council,
the reform leader stood down for health
reasons. The man who replaced him was
George Finch. How many council meetings
have you had so far then?
>> Oh, full council meetings we've had.
>> Who still lives with his parents and
can't yet drive. At 19, he is the
youngest council leader in the UK. Have
they been giving you stick about your
age or have they been all right with
you?
>> Uh, well, it's a protective
characteristic, is it? Well, I take it
back to those.
>> Nigel Farage, your party leader in the
past has criticized what he calls career
politicians without any real life
experience. Isn't that exactly what you
are?
>> Not at all. And it's simple. I've
experienced a lot um in my life. Yeah.
It's shorter than than um a lot of other
people. Seeing how the health services
have not kept their promises to the
people, seeing misdiagnosis of of of my
sister, seeing it all uh send provision,
it's gone.
>> You've got to make around 80 million
pounds worth of cuts before the end of
the decade. Where are those cuts going
to fall? We have to change the way we do
things. That doesn't mean cutting stuff.
It means reforming what we do. I think
homeschool transport, we need to look
into it. We need to look through it with
a fine tooth comb.
>> But it but it does mean spending less
money on lots of areas, doesn't it?
>> Well, look, we'll cut on net zero. Union
reps, £200,000 a year. Why are we paying
for that?
>> Okay, but it's not going to save 80
million.
>> No, no, but it's it's working towards
it. We might not be able to. We'll try
our very best to cut as much as we can.
There have been anti-immigration
protests in Warikshire this summer and
reform have said councils they control
will try and close hotels housing asylum
seekers.
>> Where where should they go now?
>> I'll be honest with you. I think we have
to look at an alternative way that are
not in our communities like next door
over the road. There has to be some
other provision for these people until
reform again. Warikshire County Council
cannot solve this problem.
>> But if you're saying we don't want them
in these hotels, where do you think they
should be going?
>> Ask Karma.
>> Well, we do ask him all the time, but
you're saying you're saying they
shouldn't be in these hotels. Where do
you think they should be?
>> I don't think that we should be housing
them in hotels. I don't think we should
be housing them in HMOs, which could be
the over over the road from nurseries.
>> So, where
what what I know what what you're trying
to lead us down to. And
>> I don't know. I honestly don't know
there isn't
>> what what I see the plans we could put
in place is to ensure that they're in
some sort of um provision where we can
check on them
>> and we can see that where they're going
because there's hotels I've seen I've
seen them firsthand they leave go to the
shop they shouldn't be
>> George Finch might be a political
trailblazer for younger generations but
when it comes to lowering the voting age
he is firmly opposed
>> do you think people at 16 should should
have the vote No, no. I think 18 has
been the age that it has been for years.
I just don't think we need to change it.
Don't change the recipe if it works.
>> You think they just don't know enough at
16?
>> I'm not saying that because you get some
really intellectual 16, 17, 18, 19 year
olds. You do. I just think that it's the
way it's been.
>> George Finch's appointment as leader
made national headlines. But what do
opposition counselors make of his start?
Well, in some ways there there hasn't
really been very much change. We were
expecting to see lots and lots of
policies coming forward and so far um
we've had virtually nothing. You know, I
have no problem at all with with his
age. I'm a huge supporter of and I have
relatively young children myself. I'm a
huge supporter of young people being
involved uh in things, but it's actually
what you do with that. Uh and I think
it's his lack of experience and lack of
knowledge. In Kent, reform wiped out the
Conservatives after 30 years in power.
>> But when the council's new leader held
her first full meeting in May, one of
her early actions was to take down the
council's pride and Ukraine flags.
>> Well, it's currently on display in the
in the council chamber alongside the
Union flag. Why is that a problem?
>> Have you checked recently since we came
out of the chamber?
>> You've taken it down already.
>> It will be coming down today. But why is
it a problem having both flags up in the
chamber?
>> Because this chamber is here to
represent the people of Kent. What's
happening in Ukraine is absolutely
appalling. Nobody is saying otherwise.
But if we are to focus ourselves and
become a serious county council once
more, we need to have a defined focus.
And having the Ukrainian flag in the
chamber is a distraction. We are not
here for the people of Kev. We're here
for the people of Kent. But you'll know
the message that it sends out that your
opponents will say you're sympathetic to
Putin. You don't believe in supporting
the Ukrainian people. Why allow them
that? Why not just keep the Ukrainian
flag up?
>> That would be taking the easy route,
wouldn't it? And not standing for what
we believe in. And I think people voted
for us because they want things to be
different. They want to take down the
Ukrainian flag.
>> They want politicians who have
conviction about what they believe in.
And they want the politicians to behave
in a way that supports that conviction,
not to give in to the first bit of
online bullying or pressure group that
comes along. That is what people voted
for. That is what me and my counselors
are going to do.
>> One of reform's high profile winners in
May was Olympic gold medal boxer Luke
Campbell.
He's now the mayor of Hull and East
Yorkshire, which has become a hub for
the renewable energy sector. Reform has
promised to scrap net zero subsidies if
it got into government. So, what would
that mean for jobs in Luke Campbell's
region?
>> Well, if any government got in in the
next election, different governments,
they'll all they'll all have the
different policies and the different
ways of doing things. If it came to it,
would you stand up for this region and
say, Nigel Farge, Prime Minister, we
still need that net zero funding because
we need these jobs in this region.
>> There's there's many ways to go about
it. They're not just going to stop
hundreds of thousands of jobs and then
leave everybody out of work. Surely not.
>> So, you think they will keep some of
that funding for the wind? I don't know
what I don't know what the what they'll
do, what they'll think, but my role as
mayor for this region for Hollanese
Yorkshire is to represent and stand for
the people. I'll put this region first
above any party politics.
>> Across the Humba River in Lincolnshire,
a former Tory MP has quit the party to
become reform mayor. The renewables
industry is a big employer in her
county, too.
>> We need more funding because it's so
rural. But Andrea Jenkins wants to end
subsidies and start fracking.
>> The subsidies come from a Labor
government. It came from a Conservative
government before that. Um,
>> and they wouldn't come from a reform
>> Well, no. I mean, we've already said our
policy is actually to We've got to
explore I I mean, we've got to explore
this fracking. We've got to explore new
emerging industries.
>> Andrea Jenkins briefly served as a
minister in Boris Johnson's government.
So, would she return to parliament if
Nigel Farage asked?
>> I don't know to be honest cuz look, I'm
a single mom. Do you know it's nice to
be in one place?
>> And that's the truth.
>> Even if he offered you the job as
chancellor or something like that.
>> Oh, you won't want to put me in charge.
That was a joke, by the way. Um, but
look, I
I love the role of me and I I like being
able to see my little one every night
and that's wonderful, isn't it?
Nigel Farage says reform councils have
rolled back net zero policies and cut
spending but says it's still too soon to
assess their success.
>> I did say to you back on May the 2nd I
think it was you know at 6 months we
should take a sort of a marker of where
we are and at a year you can judge us.
So it's very very early days
>> but in a year's time in four years time
how will they notice a difference? Well,
I hope they're going to feel that their
priorities are better reflected by the
actions of their county councils,
unitaries, mayors, uh, in terms of
priorities and that their money is being
looked after better.
>> Vote reform, get reform.
>> Reform UK's leaders are trying to leave
their mark on local government. How the
party runs its councils could determine
whether voters trust it to run the
country. Harry Horton, ITV News.