Reform UK elects Worcestershire group leader

More than a week after Reform UK won 27 seats on Worcestershire County Council, the party has selected its leader.

Joanne Monk, elected as Redditch East councillor on 2 May, was chosen as head of the party's Worcestershire group, at a meeting of Reform's newly-elected councillors.

It means she will likely be elected as the authority's leader when a vote takes place at the next full council meeting on 22 May.

After its success in the local elections, Reform UK is now the largest party in the county, though it remains two short of securing an overall majority.

Monk said it was an "honour and a privilege" to have been elected leader of the group.

"What we have achieved here is incredible," she said.

"From a standing start we are now the largest party on the council.

"The people of Worcestershire have given us a clear mandate for serious change and we fully intend to deliver that."

The big losers in the election in the county were the Conservatives, with 33 of their 45 councillors failing to secure enough votes to keep their seats.

Before the election, the relatively new Reform UK party had no seats in the county.

Twenty-six of the party's gains – based on the 2021 results – were at the expense of the Tories.

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