In the wake of the May 2025 local elections, when Reform UK won hundreds of seats and seized control of eight councils, the party vowed to wage “war” on “net-zero-stupid”.
Reform’s Deputy Leader, Richard Tice, said councils would use “every lever” to block solar and wind projects. “You’re going to waste your money,” was his message to renewable firms trying to build in Reform areas.
But one year on, Reform councils are finding that scrapping net zero is easier said than done.
Councils have attempted to oppose large-scale solar projects, only for them to be pushed through by the Government. Some local authorities are spending tens of thousands of pounds in taxpayer money fighting renewable developments that still go ahead.
Reform ‘makes a show’ of opposing solar
