Reform UK crushes all-comers to take Havering

HAVERING residents are in for a grim four years. Reform UK has swept away the other parties to take full control of the Council for the next four years.

Traditionally Havering has been a Tory borough. Straddling London and south Essex, it is where the aspiring white middle classes go when they have outgrown Barking and Redbridge. By the time they get to Havering, the newly wealthy have lost the power to process complicated thoughts and have reverted to a neanderthal-style “him bad, me want more” approach to life.

Enter Reform UK. This was not so much a victory as a rout.
•The Conservatives were completely wiped out – all of their 23 candidates failed to be elected.  In a fair world, you would expect the mainstream media to be calling on Kemi Badenoch to stand down so that the Tories can choose a new Leader.
•Labour started from a low base of just nine councillors – and lost seven seats. The nine councillors were never relevant to Havering Council, and the two remaining Labour councillors should be able to carry on that job just fine. It’s probably easier being irrelevant with two councillors rather than nine anyway. The mainstream media is calling on Keir Starmer to stand down so that Labour can choose a new Leader: double standards indeed.
•The Residents Association had 23 councillors and now have 14 – a reduction of 9. Since the invention of Reform UK, there has been little need for the Residents Association, so this is not a surprise.

There was no green surge here. The Green Party did not even stand a candidate. Well, they can’t do everything.

Reform UK have an overall majority with their 39 new councillors. The party will now be able to rave about immigration, call for tax cuts and try to rev up climate change. Councils which fell to Reform UK last May are struggling to keep their policy pledges. It will be interesting to see what they manage to do in Havering – and how the other parties fight back.

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