The party returned over 600 councillors, took control of ten councils and three mayoralties and won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted on Sunday that Reform is “a real threat” to Labour may be the Government’s main challenge at the next general election.
Immigration has been central to Reform’s message in the general and local elections, and Farage frequently raised the issue of asylum hotels on the campaign trail.
On Sunday, Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf said the party would use “every instrument of power available” to stop asylum seekers from being housed in hotels in areas where it now controls councils.
“A lot of these hotels, when you suddenly turn them into something else which is essentially a hostel that falls foul of any number of regulations, and that’s what our teams of lawyers are exploring at the moment.”
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“Now that Reform is in a place of power, we can help start rebuilding Britain. Inch by inch, Reform will reset Britain to its glorious past. We will tackle illegal migration. We’ve been working on policies,” she said.
The Home Office is responsible for housing adult asylum seekers, and while councils can raise objections, they have limited say over where people are housed.
It called for a freeze on all non-essential immigration with exceptions for those with “essential skills our economy needs such as doctors, nurses and successful business people, earning above the average salary”.
Other proposed measures include the immediate deportation of foreign criminals, tougher restrictions on dependents for student visas, and stricter penalties for companies employing illegal workers.
British DOGE
The body, which aims to slash government spending, initially promised $2tn (£1.5tn) in savings, but a running total publish on its website suggests it has so far only found $165bn (£124bn) in cuts.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 following his party’s election success, Farage said: “We are deeply dissatisfied with the way that county councils and unitaries in Britain have been running their budgets.
He pledged to “get the auditors in” and examine long-term contracts and impose a “change of culture”, adding: “No more work from home, increased productivity. That won’t be a magic wand, it won’t solve every problem, but it will be a good start and we’ll be judged on that.”
It additionally proposed saving money by scrapping some of the 600 government departments and centrally funded bodies known as “quangos,” claiming the “public wouldn’t notice if many dozens were scrapped.”
During a visit to Salisbury on the campaign trail, Farage criticised Wiltshire Council for being “pretty woke” and pointed to a decision to spend £323,000 on a bin lorry that “happens to be electric” in January as an example of the “virtue signal spending”.
This is also a focus for the party on a national level, with Reform pledging to ban “transgender ideology” and critical race theory in schools and cut funding to universities that “undermine free speech”.
“How many times do you see a statue of a truly great Briton from the past being erected in Trafalgar Square?” he said.
“The fact that they have to cover up his statue because they don’t want to provoke protesters. I mean that’s the sort of utterly indefensible so-called leadership that we’ve had and young people feel that in their bones.”
Other education policies put forward by Reform include tax reliefs for private school fees to encourage parental choice and an end to “rip-off” degrees.
Welfare and benefits
They also pledged to end remote assessments for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and encourage more 16- to 34-year-olds to enter the workforce.
A Royal Commission would also be established to reform social care, promising additional funding once a national plan is agreed upon.
During the local election campaign, he told reporters in Dover that the UK is “massively overdiagnosing those with mental illness problems” and creating a “class of victims”.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty (Photo: Lia Toby/Getty)“And if you are told you’re a victim, and you think you’re a victim, you are likely to stay [a victim].”
“And I think we are massively – I’m not being heartless, I’m being frank – I think we are massively overdiagnosing those with mental illness problems and those with other general behavioural disabilities. And I think we’re creating a class of victims in Britain that will struggle ever to get out of it.”
The party proposed ending Bank of England interest payments on QE reserves, claiming it could save up to £40bn.
Tax reforms include raising the income tax threshold to £20,000, removing 7 million people from tax altogether, and increasing the higher rate threshold to £70,000.
Corporation tax would be reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, then to 15 per cent over five years, with a higher profit threshold of £100,000.
The party plans to cut stamp duty to 0 per cent for homes under £750,000, with rates of 2 per cent on homes up to £1m and 4 per cent on those over £1.5m, claiming this would stimulate the economy and housebuilding.
Defence and foreign policy
On defence and foreign policy, Reform said during the 2024 election campaign that it wanted to cut the foreign aid budget in half—saving £6bn—and halt payments to countries like China and India.
Labour has largely matched this pledge, announcing earlier this year that it will increase defence expenditure to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, with a further rise to 3 per cent in the next parliament, contingent on economic and fiscal conditions.
Reform has also said it wants to scrap the Windsor Framework, renegotiate EU trade agreements, reform defence procurement to find significant savings, and incentivise the defence industry through tax breaks.
Policing and justice
Reform has said it would significantly expand police numbers, aiming for 300 officers per 100,000 people—a 40,000-officer increase—while using technology to reduce paperwork.
Reform proposes introducing a “zero-tolerance” model, inspired by New York, which would mandate prison for violent offences and life sentences for drug dealing or repeat serious crimes.
Ten thousand new prison places would be built, including using disused military bases if necessary, to address the current prison crisis.
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