The Reform council descending into chaos - with a £90m deficit and sexism row

A Reform UK -led council with a looming £90m black hole is in “chaos” after its leader resigned over leaked comments about axeing “incompetent” lawyers, and its former deputy was sanctioned for an “insidious” social media post. Dan Harrison stepped down as leader of Leicestershire County Council on Monday after a recording of him proposing to fire the council’s entire legal team was published on social media. He called the lawyers “incompetent” and said they “are not doing a good job”, before adding, “what I want to look at now is the women”.

Harrison’s resignation is the fourth cabinet change on the council since Reform’s election victory in May last year. The party won 25 seats to form a minority administration, but is already down to 23 after departures and a by-election loss, and now faces losing control. The leader’s exit comes just days after his former deputy, Joseph Boam, was sanctioned for multiple conduct breaches. Boam, who was elected last year, had boasted previously about being the “most complained about councillor”.

A council investigation published last week found he had engaged in an “ insidious form of public pressure ” in an “offensive attack” on Facebook against the integrity of a council monitoring officer, who later quit. ‘Chaotic, deeply divided and unstable’ Jewel Miah, leader of the council’s Labour group, said: “Dan Harrison’s resignation marks the inevitable end of a chaotic, deeply divided, and thoroughly unstable administration. For months, the people of Leicestershire have watched the Reform-led executive prioritise internal infighting over the vital public services our communities rely on.”

Harrison, who was appointed council leader in May, stepped down after he said in a leaked recording that the council’s “76 solicitors will be made redundant. We’ll buy in the service, because they’re incompetent. They’re not doing a good job. Jewel Miah, leader of Leicestershire’s Labour group, said Reform was a ‘thoroughly unstable administration’ (Alistair Langham/S17Photography) “What I want to look at now is the women, so it is ongoing.

I would like it to be at great pace but I can tell you now if we suddenly drove massive redundancies the liberals would walk away.” Deborah Taylor, leader of the Conservative opposition group, said she had not seen “any evidence” of the in-house lawyers’ incompetence, and found Harrison’s remarks “pretty disgusting”. A spokesperson for trade union Unison said council staff should not be made to worry for their jobs because of “reckless talk from politicians.

If any employer acted on a threat to sack women first, Unison would challenge it at every turn.” Harrison, who had initially claimed he was not going to quit, apologised “unreservedly” for any “hurt, distress or offence caused”. The comments were made “during a heated meeting with the expectation of privacy and confidentiality” and “taken completely out of context”, he said. He added that he had “not given any instruction or direction to officers in these matters and that there has not been any discussion nor agreement on these issues with officers”.

Harrison declined to comment when contacted by The i Paper , but added in a resignation statement: “I unequivocally reject any suggestion that staffing decisions are being taken based on gender.” The council’s acting leader, Reform’s Kevin Crook, has written to all staff to apologise for the effect that “personal comments made by the former leader” had caused. He added: “My number one priority is providing stability, leadership and delivering for the people we serve.”

Reform at risk of losing control of council There are now calls for opposition parties to form a “rainbow coalition” to oust the party’s “unstable” minority control, it has been reported . All councillors will vote on who to appoint as leader at the next full council meeting in early December. If a leader from another party is chosen, Reform will lose control of the local authority. Compared to Reform’s 23 councillors, there are 15 Conservatives, 11 Liberal Democrats and three Labour members.

The Green Party and Restore Britain have one each, and there is one independent. Reform faces losing control of Leicestershire County Council Taylor said that Reform changing its leader does not “change the culture – the leaks, the infighting, the complaints”. Earlier this year, former Reform councillor Charles Whitford defected to Restore after he was suspended from his council cabinet role on. A council investigation later found Whitford sent “bullying” and “intimidating” emails to residents who raised complaints about St George’s flags tied to lampposts .

He apologised for responding to the emails in a “personal rather than a professional way”. Reform’s Helen Butler resigned from her role as cabinet member for finance and resources in August due to “family commitments”. She was replaced by 21-year-old Harrison Fowler, who said his priority was to “drive down costs” to plug the council’s £90m budget deficit. ‘Most complained about councillor’ censured Meanwhile, Boam is facing removal from the council committees he sits on after two complaints against him were upheld.

Lauren Haslam, the council’s former monitoring officer, had alleged Boam edited a clip posted to Facebook to give “a misleading and inaccurate impression of her response” to a question he had asked about whether a rise in complaints was “from far-left activists trying to cancel and silence” Reform councillors. Another investigation concluded that he had presented a “fabricated timeline to suit his political ends” in a row with an opposition councillor over bus routes.

Boam, 22, called the investigation procedure “a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money”. In a post on X, he said the “pile on [ sic ] a young councillor who is only halfway through his second year is unbelievable”. Polls suggest that support for Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is dropping (Photo: Carl Court/Getty) Leicestershire is not the only Reform council facing problems . Michael Mullaney, leader of the council’s Lib Dem group, told The i Paper Reform was “losing seats in by-elections in large part because of the fall in Reform support nationally”.

He said: “This seems to have alarmed the Reform group into wanting to change their leader and contributed to Dan Harrison being forced out.” Polling data from YouGov showed Reform enjoyed a near 18-month streak as voters’ top choice between March 2025 and August this year. Now, however, only 21 per cent of voters support the party, behind Labour (26) and the Conservatives (24). Reform UK did not respond to a request for comment.