Three months since Reform’s landslide victory in Thurrock, Essex, residents in the town of Grays are still coming to terms with what a local council run by Nigel Farage’s party means for them, and becoming increasingly divided over its policies.
In May, Reform won 45 of the 49 seats on the council, taking over from Labour which had held overall control of Thurrock since 2024. The party also gained Suffolk and Essex county councils as it continued to create a sphere of influence in the south east.
Among the administration’s first decisions were to remove Ukrainian solidarity flags from council offices, scrap net-zero pledges and ask central Government to finance immigrants’ accommodation and subsistence.
Shorts
But the party’s preoccupation with immigration has unsettled some residents in Thurrock, which has more people born outside of the UK calling it home than any other area in Essex, according to the 2021 Census.
