Reform UK Derbyshire council labelled ‘fascists’ after slashing opposition leader’s pay ‘with complete lack of evidence or justification’

The Reform UK administration at Derbyshire County Council has been labelled “fascists” after an independent review concluded there was a “complete lack of evidence or justification” for its decision to cut the opposition leader’s allowance.

As reported by local media, during a council meeting in March, Reform councillors introduced a last-minute amendment to reduce Conservative opposition leader Councillor Alex Dale’s special responsibility allowance by £6,280, cutting it from £18,840 to £12,560.

Reform leader Councillor Alan Graves argued that opposition leaders at other authorities received lower allowances and said the reduction would bring Derbyshire into line with comparable councils. At the time, Graves received £41,868 as council leader, £13,392 as a county councillor and a further £13,709 as a Derby city councillor, giving him total allowances of £68,969. Defending the move, he said: “You don’t need allowances to scrutinise anybody. You can still hold us to account.”

The Reform administration also froze a proposed increase to allowances for all councillors.

The decision was condemned by opposition members as “spiteful, mean and uncalled for” and prompted an investigation by the council’s independent remuneration panel, which advises on councillor pay.

In its review, the panel said it was “concerned, disappointed and rather surprised” that it had not been consulted before the amendment was tabled just minutes before the March meeting. It found no evidence that the opposition leader’s workload or responsibilities had been reduced and concluded there was no consistent national benchmark showing Derbyshire’s allowance was unusually high.

The panel found a “complete lack of evidence or justification” for the reduction and recommended restoring the original allowance, calculated at 45 percent of the council leader’s allowance, instead of the current 30 per cent rate.

It also noted that opposition leaders at several other county councils receive more than Derbyshire’s original £18,840 allowance, including Reform-controlled Nottinghamshire County Council on £26,195, and Staffordshire County Council on £22,371.

Conservative Councillor Nigel Gourlay criticised the decision, saying: “Fascism does not begin with tanks on the lawn. It begins when those in power decide the opposition should be poorer, quieter, and easier to ignore. Reform can object to the comparison if they like, but they should stop supplying the evidence.”

Following publication of the review, Deborah Taylor, Conservative opposition leader at Leicestershire County Council and councillor for Bradgate Division, said a similar change had been made in Leicestershire by removing a long-standing constitutional position held by the leader of the opposition.

She tweeted: “A similar move was done in Leicestershire by removing a position from the Leader of the Opposition, that had been in the constitution for years. Alex works incredibly hard for his residents and I am pleased to read the outcome of the Independent Review. Let’s hope it changes.”