Councillor complaints have soared by more than 1,000 percent within almost a year since Reform UK took control, with officials saying it is putting a 'heavy strain' on the county council's resources.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) can reveal that Leicestershire County Council has experienced a 1,200 percent increase in councillor complaints – from just eight complaints from May 2024 to April 2025 – before going up to 104 complaints between May 2025 to April 27, 2026.

According to a Freedom of Information request, most complaints were in the single digits between May 2021 and April 2025, before rising sharply shortly after the Reform minority administration took over.

Despite this, a leading council officer has said that the number of complaints "didn't [mean] a lot of things [were] going wrong".

Freedom of Information requests seen by the LDRS also reveal that a majority of these complaints were made against Reform councillors, with 97 complaints filed against them between May 2025 and April 2026.

51 of these complaints against Reform councillors were made by members of the public, 32 were made by Leicestershire County Council members of staff, three were made by members of other organisations – including other councils, MPs and public bodies – and 11 complaints from other councillors.

Six complaints were also made about Conservative Party members, and one was made about an independent councillor.

It follows a meeting of the county council's Constitution and Ethics committee, during which councillors were updated on the Member's Code of Conduct and the number of complaints that were impacting council resources "significantly".

Conservative Cllr Craig Smith pointed out during the meeting that the report showed a "dramatic increase in complaints".

He added: "There have been thousands and thousands of taxpayers' money and resources used on these complaints."

Fiona McMillian, chief legal and monitoring officer at Leicestershire County Council, told the committee that many of the complaints came from members of the public who "see members behaving in a certain way online".

She added: "They [the public] believe that because they [councillors] have made any kind of comment, it is a breach of the code of conduct.

"I have to write to each of those people and say, 'You might find that post to be offensive or you might not like it … but if it does not relate to the role of Leicestershire County Council, the business of this council … then they are not acting in their official capacity.

"There have been a significant number of those over the year."

Ms McMillian said that members of the public weren't "very happy" with the response when writing back, and that the rise in complaint numbers "didn't reflect the issues at all".

She added, "We could have 200 complaints, and out of those, 10 might only be valid complaints.

"Just because there's a lot, doesn't mean there's a lot of things going wrong.

"It has been a huge strain on resources over the last few months."

Between October 2025 and July 2026, the council recorded 87 complaints, of which 40 were dismissed. However, 12 are currently under external investigation.

However, a number of complaints have been upheld, as well as "informal" resolutions, including those against Reform councillors Cllr Michael Squires, Cllr Kim Robinson, and an apology from council leader Dan Harrison to Conservative councillor Craig Smith, as well as complaints upheld against Restore Britain councillor Charles Whitford.

A report seen by the LDRS also shows that further complaints are also currently being processed – all regarding social media – with one currently undergoing an external investigation. The report also shows that external investigation costs have exceeded £5,700.

As a result, the council has decided to strengthen its criteria for assessing complaints, including "the seriousness of the allegation", "the evidence available" and "the likely benefit of investigation compared with the

resources involved".

During the Constitution and Ethics committee meeting, Cllr Michael Mullaney said he believed the rise in complaints was "due to the way people generate attention on social media".

He added: "If you express your opinions in a fairly dull, moderate way, you don't get much attention on social media, whereas if you express them using very colourful language and offend people, you get more attention.

"If the original objection is to get more attention, then actually getting a complaint against you actually gives you more attention. It becomes a vicious circle."

Reform Cllr Graham Cooke said he was "shocked at what was going on" regarding the costs of conducting investigations. He added: "£5,000 is shocking enough.

"I started to become a county councillor because I was adult enough to be responsible. We should all be held to account – no matter which side of the room you sit on.

"For me, this is a lot of money for responsible councillors."