‘UKIP’s here!’ – New Reform councillor forgets which party he represents

A Freudian slip there...

As results continue to come in from across England in the local elections, it’s clear predictions of sweeping Reform gains weren’t wide of the mark.

At the time of writing, Nigel Farage’s party have gained 382 seats and won control of two councils.

The party seem to be the main beneficiaries of a pretty awful night for Labour, who have lost control of eight councils and seen their councillor numbers slashed by more than half.

So, over the coming days, weeks and months, there’ll be hundreds of new Reform councillors looking after things like adult social care, bin collections and council tax across the country.

Some of them might want to remember which Nigel Farage-led party they’re actually representing though.

Speaking in Peterborough, councillor Peter Reeve told ITV Anglia: “Our message is UKIP’s here!”

After he was corrected by reporter Emma Volney, Reeve said: “I’ve been doing this for the last 15 years, from the UKIP days all the way through to Reform.”

Reform won four seats on Peterborough council, taking them to five overall and meaning they remain the smallest party on the council, which remained under no overall control.

In the past, Reeve was a senior UKIP figure in Cambridgeshire’s local government. In 2015, he caused controversy after saying that “lots of people” agreed with boxer Tyson Fury’s comments linking homosexuality and paedophilia.