Nigel Farage’s “UK Doge” unit is preparing to descend on a cash-wasting council after Zia Yusuf met with local Reform chiefs to discuss how taxpayers could claw back hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Yusuf, who now heads up Reform’s “Doge” unit after quitting as the populist party’s chairman last week, visited West Northamptonshire Council on Friday.
Following Friday’s initial meeting, Reform now plans to instruct its “Doge” team to identify waste and inefficiencies within the council’s budget.
The group will later issue a report to West Northamptonshire’s Reform leadership, providing advice for what action to take to end what it regards as “wasteful spending”.
Nigel Farage
PA
Yusuf said: “For too long, British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole.
“Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed and their local services keep getting cut.
“Reform won a historic victory in West Northamptonshire and around the country on a mandate to change this.
“As promised, we have created a ‘UK Doge’ to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money.
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Zia Yusuf during his visit to West Northamptonshire
REFORM UK
Zia Yusuf with Council Leader Mark Arnull, Deputy Leader James Petter and the Reform UK cabinet on West Northamptonshire Council
REFORM UK
Nigel FaragePA
William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers are rightly fed up with how local authorities waste their hard-earned money.
“At the same time as they see their council tax bills increasing, they see frontline services crumbling and public spaces in disarray.
“If Reform wants to prove that they’re more than just a party of protest, they need to deliver on their promises to clean up local councils.”
Reform UK is also hoping to continue to build momentum from its victory in the 2025 Local Elections, with Essex and Norfolk being up for grabs next May.
