On 2 May 2025 Reform UK took control of County Durham Council after the local elections held there the previous day. Reform UK won more than half of the seats on the council, securing 65 councillors, with heavy gains from the Conservatives, Labour and independents, following the declaration of all 98 results.
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage MP spoke at a celebration event in Newton Aycliffe having previously, visited the area during the election campaign.
Farage was said to have warned those at the council working on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, climate change. or anyone who “thinks they can go on working from home, I think you better all be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly”.
Prime Minister at the time, Sir Keir Starmer, was also criticised for not taking Reform seriously when he joked the party would “have the Conservatives for breakfast”, adding that “he missed a bit. We were going to have the Labour Party for lunch and that’s what we have done”.
Reform had a large majority on County Durham Council and the council was clearly seen as a Reform flagship council. What could possibly go wrong?
What happened next?
At the celebration event, Farage said that Durham would be the shape of things to come and that Reform would “set the markers on how we intend to govern”.
Now less than 18 months later, an investigation by Sky News has revealed the chaos inside this Reform flagship council.
It was reported that whistleblowers inside Durham’s Reform administration had described bitter infighting and what has been happening as “horrendous”.
There were also allegations of harassment and bullying and it was even noted that the police had been called in.
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Durham councillors interviewed
Sky News spoke to a dozen people linked to the council, some of whom were said to be still in the party. Some of them claimed to have been fearful to speak out, but five councillors who defected from Reform UK are now talking, four of them for the first time.
Kate Roland went into politics to improve educational provision for children with special needs but is now said to be “appalled” at what she has seen going on.
Kate went on to describe the behaviour of those at the top of Reform in County Durham as “narcissistic. It’s very much a case of our way or the highway.” Kate also said that it’s “horrendous …and it’s having a massive impact on residents. Nobody can say that they are giving 100% to the residents when all this infighting is happening”.
Meanwhile Ian Catchpole commented that he was disappointed about the performance of Reform on County Durham Council and first began to have concerns about the way the council was being run almost from day one.
Another County Durham councillor speaking out against Reform is Nick Brown. He resigned from Reform back in February and no feels no regrets whatsoever. He went on to say that he felt that “the people of County Durham have been let down”. Brown also commented that things have got worse and that the council representatives are more aloof than ever.
It was also noted that many of the allegations centre on council leader and former male model Andrew Husband. Another interviewee said that it is absolute chaos in County Durham now, with emails pinging around and stuff on social media. The atmosphere in the council was said to be “toxic”
The programme also sees an interview with Councillor Kenny Hope who served in the British army for many years and has since suffered PTSD. Hope stated that in a meeting he spoke about mental health and that he was stunned when council leader Husband responded by simply claiming that mental health issues were “woke”. This story was backed up by a statement from Kate Roland.
It was also said that when Husband was challenged by a group of councillors regarding this incident, things got really nasty, Hope himself has been reported to the police by Reform regarding what was described as “harassment”.
Reform councillors who have resigned from the party were said to have been called traitors by their ex-colleagues on social media , while council leader Andrew Husband has been reported to Durham Constabulary, and the police have said that other councillors have been reported to them about their behaviour and complaints about had gone up 333%, costing County Durham £50 000.
County Durham needs a better council
There have been stories of problems with the Reform-led County Durham Council from the start of their takeover in May 2025, with a steady drip of resignations of Reform councillors.
It looks increasingly like the Reform led County Durham Council, led by Andrew Husband and Darren Grimes is unfit for purpose.
Many people in County Durham have had a hard time in recent decades, with the closure of the pits, austerity and the effects of the north-south divide in England. They need a council that can genuinely help them and work for them.
On the evidence of this investigation by Sky News, they simply haven’t got one at the moment.
