Reform UK just chalked up another win, and this time, it’s making waves far beyond the ballot box. The party grabbed a council seat from Labour in the Shelley ward of Ongar Town Council, located in Essex’s Epping Forest District. Reform candidate secured a decisive 352 votes, while Labour trailed far behind with just 100.
James Murdock, a Reform MP, didn’t hold back on celebrating. “78 percent of the votes go to Reform in the latest Essex by election. Gain from Labour. Well done team,” he posted, as reported by The Express. This victory comes hot on the heels of a series of headline making wins including a major upset in the Runcorn and Helsby by election, a seat that had long been a Labour stronghold.
Reform has been on a roll. The party gained control of 10 councils, scooped up more than 600 council seats, and even took home two mayoral wins in recent local elections. One of the biggest shocks came in Kent, where they swept into power by winning 57 out of 81 county council seats—crushing a Conservative grip that had held steady for nearly three decades.
But Reform’s victory in Kent is quickly becoming about more than numbers. It’s about what comes next.
At the council’s annual general meeting in Maidstone, the newly appointed leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran, wasted no time laying out her vision. And let’s just say, it’s raising eyebrows. Kemkaran announced that under her leadership, the council will no longer fly the Pride flag this summer or display the Ukrainian flag in the chamber.
“The Union Jack, the flag of St George and the flag of Kent, they are the identity that we all share and it is that identity that we need to focus on,” she told the room. Her statement was met with loud applause and even table thumping from fellow Reform councillors. One opposition member likened the atmosphere to a “political rally.”
Kemkaran made it clear that her administration doesn’t “have much time for special interest groups and flags that represent special interest groups.” That line sparked a backlash from opposition leader Antony Hook of the Liberal Democrats, who voiced concerns that Reform’s local team might be too closely tied to the party’s national leadership.
“It was really shocking to me that in a recent podcast the leader of Reform said that she had to sort of take instructions from Reform’s national chairman,” Hook said outside the chamber. “That’s the sort of thing we’ve never heard at Kent County Council before.”
The council leader also pitched the idea of launching a new Department of Government Efficiency—or DOGE, as she called it—to streamline operations and root out issues within the council.
While Reform continues to ride a wave of voter support, questions are growing louder about the direction they’re taking once they’re in charge. Critics worry that local policies are being influenced by the party’s central leadership and fear that important initiatives, like those aimed at supporting minority groups or protecting the environment, might get lost in the shuffle.
As the Reform wave continues to spread, so too does the controversy.
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