Reform UK’s plans to scrap diversity intiatives in local councils could be scuppered by legal restrictions in the Equality Act. The party made huge gains in this month’s local elections, sweeping to power in 10 UK councils and winning over 600 seats. Taking a page from Elon Musk’s book, Reform officials have pledged to scrap a number of diversity initiatives they say are crippling council finances – but the flagship policy may be easier said than done.
New mayor of Lincolnshire Andrea Jenkyns went so far as to promise a “Lincolnshire DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency)” in the style of Musk’s new US federal department. She told The Independent that local authorities including Lincolshire would become rid of diversity officers – hailing it as a “historic moment”. Party leader Nigel Farage has also said that “every county needs a DOGE” and reportedly told his councillors not to attend diversity and inclusion training. A major stumbling block for the implementation of Reform’s pledges could be the legal mandates enshrined in the Equality Act, however, which requires councils to enforce DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) measures as part of its Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
Under the PSED, Reform’s 10 councils are required to consider how any new policies would impact people with protected characteristics, including disability, age and gender.
Any attempts to sidestep the Equality Act could lead to a showdown with Sir Keir Starmer’s government, as former Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg warned in the Spectator this week.
“Yes, they can change the flags, but an awful lot of the duties of local councils are statutory duties that they have to carry out,” he said.
“Regrettably, they won’t be able to get rid of as much DEI as I would like them to,” Rees Mogg added, suggesting Reform could be “endlessly taken to court” if they weren’t careful.
However, former Reform communications chief Gawain Towler told GB News many of the current DEI measures “go far beyond the scope of the Equality Act legislation”.
“There has been industrial rainbow-plating of the regulations, and Reform councils will work hard to remove that woke plating,” he said.
Farage has also said Reform-run councils would “get the auditors in” to examine how much money is being spent on DEI policies and evaluate the “long-term contracts many of these county or unitary authorities have signed up to”.
Recent polling suggests that Reform would win 309 seats in parliament if a general election were held today – putting it at its highest vote share to date and seemingly putting Farage on a path to Number 10. Despite the party’s storming success on May 1, it faces a four-year wait until the next general election – with its local victories providing an opportunity to show what Reform will do with its new, albeit limited, power.