Leicestershire's Liberal Democrat group has confirmed it is not willing to join forces with Reform UK.

As such, Reform is expected to continue into the new council term as a minority ruling party.

Reform said its new councillors have now met for the first time at County Hall.

Councillor for Whitwick Joseph Boam said: "It is a huge honour to have been elected onto the county council. I'm looking forward to delivering for the people of Whitwick and Leicestershire.

"Let's not forget the sheer importance of what has happened here. From a standing start we are now the largest party in Leicestershire County Council. The message from local residents is clear: they want change, and Reform UK will deliver that."

The Conservatives are now expected to be the official opposition to Reform at County Hall.

Control of Leicestershire County Council has been in Conservative hands for the past 24 years.

But, in one day, the party has lost not just that control, but also its position as the largest group on the authority, going from 42 seats in 2021, to just 15. Reform UK came away as the winners of this year's vote, with 25 new councillors elected.

advertisement

However, that figure was not enough to secure a majority, leaving questions over what will happen next. Will parties join together to form a coalition either with Reform, or to keep them out of leadership? Or will Reform, as the largest party by some way, try to run the council from a minority position?

Questions also remain over what exactly Reform intends to do if it does take on the running of the authority. The party has previously promised a top-to-bottom audit of the county council's finances in a bid to identify and cut any wasteful spending.

But, until that is complete, the party has said it cannot make any other promises to the public over what council services and support will look like going forwards. Leicestershire County Council has long been recognised as the worst-funded county authority in the country, and its former Conservative leaders have prided themselves on what they say is an efficient approach to spending. We will just have to wait and see what an audit throws up – and what comes afterwards.

So why did the party make the gains it has both in Leicestershire and across the country? The answer to that seems to be that people are fed up and they want change when it comes to their political leaders.

They feel let down by Labour and by the Conservatives, and they like what they are hearing from the Reform leader Nigel Farage.

Many, it seems, have not forgotten the events that mired the final years of the Tories' time at the head of Westminster, including Liz Truss' short-lived reign which crashed the economy and the lack of honesty around the partygate scandal.

As MP Peter Bedford said at the count on Friday (May 2), trust in the Conservatives is gone for a lot of people and, so far, those in Westminster have not done what they need to to win that back.

The first months of Labour's time at the top of Westminster has not gone smoothly either. Leicestershire's rural communities are angry over the changes to inheritance tax for farmers, and small businesses feel the same about the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. That was recognised at counts today, with Labour's Jewel Miah telling us the "national picture" has impacted on them.

advertisement

The main takeaway from this week, however, seems to be that we will just have to wait and see what the future holds for the county, and for politics nationally.