Reform selects 18-year-old to run £2bn council

Reform UK has selected an 18-year-old to lead Warwickshire County Council on a permanent basis.

George Finch was installed as the full-time leader of the Reform group in the county after a members' vote on Friday and said afterwards he would deliver "meaningful change".

The election was needed after his predecessor, Rob Howard, quit the role in June, just 41 days into the job - citing health reasons and Finch took over as interim leader.

Reform does not hold an outright majority on the council but is the largest party meaning the 18-year-old and Reform need the support of colleagues in other parties on 22 July, when a full council vote will be held, to officially appoint him as council leader.

So far since the May elections, the local Conservative group has helped Reform to push through political appointments.

If Finch was confirmed as the council's leader, he would be among the youngest in that position in the country and, in Warwickshire, oversee a budget of half-a-billion pounds along with council assets worth £1.5bn.

Following his election, Finch said: "I'm determined to give every Warwickshire resident proper representation at council level.

"In May's local elections, my colleagues and I stood on a promise of delivering meaningful change and that's what we will do."

Finch, the councillor for Bedworth Central, was a member of the Conservative Party for three months before switching to Reform on the grounds, he said, that it would "better tackle illegal immigration".

His short time as interim leader saw a row over a Progress Pride Flag flying outside the council's Shire Hall headquarters make national headlines.

Some opposition politicians were critical of Finch's interim appointment, ahead of Friday's vote.

The Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, Preet Gill, said the people of Warwickshire "frankly deserve better".

"This is not work experience," she said. "This is not about learning on the job."

Mike Wood, the Conservative MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire, was previously a local councillor.

Speaking in June he said: "It really would take a quite remarkable 18-year-old to go straight from sixth form to running a large local authority with a half-a-billion pound budget with no previous experience."

In response, Finch urged people to judge him on his actions rather than his age.

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