A petition demanding Essex County Council’s 2025 Election goes ahead as planned on May 1 has almost received 2,000 signatures as Reform UK sets its sights on a “turquoise tsunami”.
Tom Allison, who secured 34.7 per cent of the vote as Reform UK’s candidate in Stock’s Essex County Council by-election last month, created the petition on December 29 following reports that the county-wide poll could get canned.
Authority leaders across the country are expected to formally request for their respective elections to get pushed back as part of Labour’s plans to rejig devolution across England, including in Essex and Thurrock.
A total of 12 Tory-held county councils look poised to demand a polling day delay, with the Government having until mid-February to select around 10 contests that will face the chop.
Tom Allison delivering a speech at Reform UK’s East of England conference
REFORM UK
Speaking to GB News at Reform UK’s East of England conference on Saturday, Allison said: “It might not make a tangible impact but what they cannot do is ignore the amount of signatures that we have.”
He added: “The petition itself I made as a resident of Essex, the petition isn’t branded as a Reform petition.
“We’ve had independent councillors, Liberal Democrats signing the petition because there are people out there who maybe don’t associate themself with Reform yet but want to sign this because they care about democracy and believe democracy should be protected.”
The petition was also shared online by The Only Way Is Essex’s iconic reality TV personality Gemma Collins.
Discussing the petition’s impact on Reform UK’s chances, Allison also told the People’s Channel: “The petition doing well would only strengthen Reform’s position.
“I’ve had people come up to me and say that they haven’t really been aware of local politics but after my by-election in December, they’ve become aware of local politics, including County Council Elections, where the turnout isn’t historically very good.
“The petition will also do that. It’s all about making people aware that local governance matters and elections at that level matter. I think the petition will go a long way in providing that exposure to people across Essex.”
He continued: “This room is full of people but if we are to be as ambitious as we should then we need help, we need growth. Those people are out there – the silent majority is there for the taking. Publicised by-elections like mine and the petition are the perfect vehicle to get more people on the ground.”
When asked if Reform UK could win a majority of wards across Essex, Allison emphatically said: “100 per cent, we think that’s possible.”
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela RaynerPAHe also expressed a degree of concern about the motivation behind cancelling the scheduled polling date of May 1.
Allison said: “Do I think they’ve been slightly opportunistic with the timing of this? Do I think they’re maybe kicking these Local Elections down the road because they’re scared that in Essex we’re going to win a majority? I think a little bit.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also been keen to speak out about Labour potentially axing council elections, previously comparing Sir Keir Starmer to ex-Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.
Speaking at Chelmsford City Racecourse on Saturday, Farage said: “Now I hear dark rumours that maybe the elections will be cancelled this year. I find this hard to believe as only dictators cancel elections but then given Keir Starmer’s tendencies it perhaps wouldn’t be as surprising as all that.
“It would seem that the governing Conservatives in these counties are so afraid of Reform that they would love to see these elections postponed for a year or two.
“I don’t know what the outcome will be but what I do know is we are building branches, what I do know is more and more good men and women are coming forward and putting their names down to stand for us at local government level, whatever tier that may be.
“We will continue with these events, with meetings, with vetting procedures, as if the elections are going to go ahead on May 1 this year. If they don’t I will certainly be outraged at the suspension of our democratic process but do you know what it will give us even more time to professionalise further and if we have to wait a year or two longer we will absolutely smash them to pieces when those elections come.”
Tom Allison campaigning with Nigel Farage in Stock
TOM ALLISON
The fury comes after it was revealed that both Essex County Council and Thurrock Unitary Council will look to rubber-stamp postponing its election scheduled for May 1.
Other areas expected to demand a postponement include Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, Hampshire, East Sussex, West Sussex, Devon, Gloucestershire, Kent and Worcestershire.
Just five councils are expected to opt against cancelling polls – Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner seemingly admitted that Local Elections could be delayed as part of Starmer’s plan to shake up local authorities after Local Government Minister Jim McMahon last month confirmed that Labour “may look at postponing” some of the polls scheduled for May 1.
However, McMahon added: “It wouldn’t be for longer than a couple of months, a year.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman also said: “No decisions have been taken to postpone elections in specific areas.
“Where an area wants to work with us to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeline, we will consider a request to postpone an election to help them manage these demands.
“We have asked areas to come forward with such requests on or before January 10 so we can respond on a timetable that provides certainty to areas as soon as possible and protects the taxpayer.”
Jaymey McIvor at Reform UK’s East of England conference
REFORM UK
A source closely connected to Farage expressed disappointment about the rumours surrounding 2025’s Local Elections.
“We’ve been looking at May 1 since the General Election,” they told GB News.
Reform UK is so far represented by just one councillor on Essex’s 75-strong county council.
But Jaymey McIvor, who defected to the populist party from the Tories on October 24, believes Essex is ready for Reform UK.
He told the People’s Channel: “Every seat in Essex, I believe Reform can win. The younger generation are crying out for a future they can be excited about. That’s why so many young people are joining and voting Reform.”
McIvor added: “We are polling well, we are professionalising our party and the branch structures are ready. The backbone of all parties is the members. Party members have been neglected by Labour and the Conservative Party for too long.
“Reform gives the dedicated, politically active patriotic people an alternative and Reform UK members are now becoming activists.
“Many of whom have never been involved in politics before. Ordinary folk who can’t stand by and watch our great country be betrayed.
Tom Allison campaigning in Stock
TOM ALLISON
“We don’t have years and years of data – but we do have a People’s Army. Membership has surged, member development is underway and candidates are fighting to win their seats – to save Britain one council ward at a time.
“If they choose to cancel the elections, I predict, Reform will gather even more momentum. The Establishment powers have underestimated the strength of Reform UK, if they choose to deny the will of the people by implementing something the people haven’t given a mandate to the architects of, then, frankly, I think you’ll see the turquoise Reform tsunami gather even more momentum.”
Despite confidence ahead of the Local Elections, Reform UK received just 2,029 votes across Essex in 2021.
Reform UK managed to retain its deposit for one candidate in Laindon Park & Fryerns and another in nearby Pitsea but ended up with less votes than all the major parties and resident groups in both Loughton and Rochford.
Under Farage’s leadership, Ukip managed to win just nine of Essex’s 75 wards in 2013.
Despite receiving 27.7 per cent of the vote, just behind the Tories on 34.2 per cent, Ukip’s victories were confined to Basildon, Braintree, Castle Point, Rochford and Tendring, while the Conservatives held onto 42 seats.
Reform UK’s result in Stock’s December by-election also appeared to mirror the ward’s result in 2013.
Ukip’s Jesse Pryke received 35.2 per cent, trailing Tory Ian Grundy by 13.1 points.
Allison got to within a marginally closer distance to defeating the Conservatives, cutting the Tories’ lead from 59.5 per cent to just 11.7 per cent.
Nigel Farage speaking at Chelmsford City RacecourseREFORM UKBut Reform UK secured a stronger base of support across Essex during the 2024 General Election campaign, winning Clacton and South Basildon & East Thurrock.
The populist party separately managed to secure strong second-place finishes in an additional five seats, while also opening up a close three-way contest in Basildon & Billericay
But Reform UK’s 2024 performance in Essex was blotted by Grand StClair-Armstrong being axed in North West Essex for his previous association with the British National Party and the inability to field a candidate in Epping Forest.
When including both results, Reform UK’s countywide support sat at around 21.8 per cent.
However, excluding North West Essex and Epping Forest, Reform UK’s 2024 support jumps to 23.7 per cent.
In comparison, Ukip received 20.5 per cent of the vote after winning Clacton and cementing second-place finishes in a further eight seats in 2015.
The comparitive boost would likely bring dozens of wards into play, given the collapse in support for the Conservative Party.
But it remains to be seen if the surge will be enough for Reform UK to flip Essex County Council from a standing start in the unlikely situation that the election gets the go-ahead at all.
Essex County Council has been Tory-run since 2001, with the Conservatives maintaining the title of the area’s largest party in every poll held since 1997.
In fact, excluding the period between elections held in 1993 and 1997, the Tories have been the largest single party sitting on Essex County Council since its inception in 1973.
Analysis conducted by Britain Elects suggests that Reform UK could win dozens of wards across the second-tier of Essex’s local councils, including double-digit gains in Thurrock alone.
GB News has approached Essex County Council for comment.