(Image: Stuart Boulton)
Reform UK wants to take control of Darlington Borough Council and can win at next year’s local elections, Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick said.
Speaking about the party’s ambitions ahead of the May elections in Darlington and Redcar, Mr Jenrick said Reform was building its local organisation and believed voters had been repeatedly “let down” by both Labour and the Conservatives.
Darlington currently has one Reform councillor, but independent Kevin Nicholson announced last month that he would fight the next election under the banner of Nigel Farage's party.
"I want us to take control of all those councils," said Mr Jenrick in an upper room of O'Grady's Hotel in Redcar while on Reform's '100 Days to Save Britain' tour.
Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick at O'Gradys Hotel in Redcar. (Image: Stuart Boulton)
"We’re recruiting candidates, we’re building branches and getting our volunteers out on the streets, knocking on doors, talking to people and setting out the positive change that Reform could bring," he said.
Mr Jenrick argued that the region had suffered from decades of political disappointment, claiming voters had first become disillusioned with Labour before turning to the Conservatives in 2019.
He said: “People voted for change in 2019 with Boris who came here and people felt that this was someone who would do something different.
“It didn’t really happen."
The Newark MP said Labour’s return to government had failed to improve the situation and argued voters were now looking for an alternative.
Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick at O'Gradys Hotel in Redcar. (Image: Stuart Boulton)
“This cycle goes on and on and on.
“It’s time to break the cycle, to have something new, and that is what Reform offers.”
Mr Jenrick also singled out Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, claiming it required new leadership and a different approach.
Read more
Nigel Farage - What my Reform government would do in its first 100 days
Labour takes two North East council seats back from Reform in double by-election win
Pet crematorium offering free service for pensioners gets go-ahead in North East town
He said: “Look at a council like Redcar, it’s a council that’s basically been bust now for the best part of 10 years and could be so much better if it was run by good people with business backgrounds, not just part of the old political party.
“So I think there’s a real case on Teesside for change, sweeping away these complacent local politicians and getting new common-sense people to come in.
“And that’s what I think Reform will offer this area.”