Reform need to 'step up' to lead council - mayor

The North East mayor has called on Reform to "step up" as they take control of their first council in the region.

Kim McGuinness said she would welcome the party to her combined authority team, but "it's time to move on from what we're used to from Reform, which is pledges and soundbites, they've got a council to deliver".

Meanwhile, Green councillor David Francis raised concerns Reform leader Nigel Farage was already interfering too much in the council in remarks made after the election.

When elected, Reform UK councillor Darren Grimes said he hoped his party would "deliver at least on people's council priorities, if not on their national priorities".

The party made significant gains in the local election held on 2 May, with the party taking control of Durham County Council, among others.

Speaking on BBC Politics North, Grimes accused Labour of "moving on" from working people.

"People have moved on from Labour, the word that kept coming up [on the doorstep] was 'betrayal'," he said.

He added when he was campaigning, people told him their ancestors had voted Labour, but that they were not willing to continue that tradition because "the Labour Party itself has moved away from being the party of workers to being the party of metropolitan liberals".

Grimes is considered a frontrunner to become council leader and when asked if she would work with him in cabinet, McGuinness said: "I'll work with anybody who wants to make this region better.

"They've been democratically elected in Durham, they now need to step up and run Durham County Council and run it well.

"It's now time to move on from what we're used to from Reform, which is pledges and soundbites, they've got a council to deliver.

"We'll welcome someone onto our cabinet when Durham elect a leader or select a leader."

Speaking on the leadership of Durham County Council, South Tyneside councillor Francis said: "The difficulty there is, we saw within 24 hours of the election results Nigel Farage announcing what was going to happen in County Durham, not anybody that was from County Durham or elected to represent them."

He also said his party had not been given enough credit for its own electoral success.

"The Greens have more councillors than Reform at this time, but people would be forgiven for not knowing about it, because we haven't enjoyed the massively disproportionate amount of attention that's given to Nigel Farage and Reform.

"If we had, I think you'd see very different results."

BBC Politics North airs on Sundays at 10.00. Catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

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