A Liberal Democrat councillor is warning Lancashire is facing a very rocky 12 months and he's fearful as Reform UK step up to lead the county council.
The surging popularity of Reform UK means they now have a Lancashire County Council majority, with results still coming in.
That means the Conservative administration will leave County Hall in the hands of Reform, which opposition councillors have said has no experience of what it's like to run a county council.
Group leader of the Liberal Democrats David Howarth retained his Penwortham West seat, with nearly double the votes of Reform's Wayne Griffiths in second, but he is now worried about what the future holds.
The surging popularity of Reform UK means they now have a Lancashire County Council majority, with results still coming in.
That means the Conservative administration will leave County Hall in the hands of Reform, which opposition councillors have said has no experience of what it's like to run a county council.
Group leader of the Liberal Democrats David Howarth retained his Penwortham West seat, with nearly double the votes of Reform's Wayne Griffiths in second, but he is now worried about what the future holds.
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NewsTranscript
00:00County Councillor Howes, congratulations. I think you described yourself, or maybe slightly paraphrasing here, but described yourself as a light in the darkness there. Exactly what did you mean by that?
00:10It was a light that never goes out. Because Pemberton and West do keep returning Liberal Democrats, both at South River and at the County Council, but I really do now fear for the county and I fear for the people of Lancashire, because with the results that have just taken place, with sweeping gains for reform, who really don't have a manifesto, who've shown themselves that they have no experience of running a County Council, or even understanding of how council finance works, I think we're in for a very rocky and a very difficult
00:40first twelve months at least. But they've appealed to the people, the people have supported them in good numbers. They have, they have, and that's the democratic outcome, and people have their democratic right to elect a party to govern on their behalf. I think the proof is now in the pudding, and we need to see just exactly what it is they're going to do. If they do try and implement this notion that we get rid of all debt, how on earth do we build schools, how on earth do we repair our roads,
01:10and even the idea that the County Council is not emptying the bins often enough, when the County Council doesn't even empty bins, is an indication of the problems we're going to face.
01:21Thank you very much.