Reform Watch 38: A Westminster Obsession

Criticising Andy Burnham over his plans to scrap the pension triple lock from 2030, Nigel Farage told the Daily Express last month that Reform UK has “decided as a priority we should keep it”, before huffing about how “Westminster is obsessed with getting rid of it”.

His words were echoed by Reform’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick in a press conference a few days later. Having decried Burnham’s policy as “just mean”, Jenrick pronounced: “I don’t care if everyone in Westminster believes the triple lock is an anachronism to be tossed aside, I will not shaft people who have paid in their whole lives, who have paid for everything, who have worked hard, who have juggled jobs. I won’t do that.”

Those people in Westminster apparently obsessed with shafting pensions presumably include… two senior Reform officials!

Mitchell Palmer (left) and Sam Ashworth-Hayes (right)

Mitchell Palmer – the party’s chief economic adviser who was appointed to the role by Jenrick this summer – called for an end to the triple lock when speaking to GB News back in April. “The triple lock is an expensive way to ensure that pensioners have dignity in their retirement,” Palmer said, adding: “Pensioners almost by definition are made better off in real terms than workers and that obviously is, one, unsustainable as the number of pensioners that each worker has to pay for increases, but, two, can be seen by those younger generations as somewhat unfair.”

Even more strident in his views is Reform’s research director Sam Ashworth-Hayes, who once described the policy as a “fiscal and economic millstone around the British government’s neck”, explaining: “Given that it’s unjust and unsustainable, scrapping the triple lock would be a genuinely good move for the country.”

Palmer and Ashworth-Hayes might want to have a word with their bosses.

And in other news…

👎 Bad news round up

Another fortnight, another litany of bad headlines for Reform. Here are three stories from the last week in case you missed any:

• On Tuesday, George Madgwick – who’d been serving as both the leader of the Reform group on Hampshire County Council and a party official, working as a senior campaign manager in its head office – was charged with 35 offences, including 12 counts of rape and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child. Madgwick denies the allegations. He has been suspended from Reform.
• The Reform leader of Leicestershire County Council, Dan Harrison, announced he is stepping down, after comments he made last month were leaked on social media. Harrison was recorded discussing making 76 council-employed solicitors redundant and made comments about looking at “female employees next”, saying he wanted to decide “who to target”.
• Chris Hudson, a Reform councillor in Suffolk, was sacked as cabinet member for highways and transport after the X account Reform Exposed revealed he posted a sexualised AI-generated image of a female colleague on social media. The Council leader Michael “Russia is not my enemy” Hadwen said the decision was made “with regret”.

😵‍💫 Dillingham’s Drivel

Back in May, Reform took control of Barnsley Council. One of those elected under the party’s banner was Edward Dillingham – who later that month was selected as the Council’s deputy leader. We’ve discovered that he has a track record of spouting conspiracy theories and far-right views online.

Edward Dillingham

In 2022, for instance, he was busy talking nonsense about global warming. As well as claiming that “there is no undeniable proof” humans contribute to climate change (because there are “only guesstimates and predictions from the good old climate extremist made up ‘studies’ and manipulated/ cherry picked data”), Dillingham declared that all media outlets are “in on the [climate change] scam”.

The Reform deputy Council leader has also advocated for “remigration” – a far-right concept of ethnic cleansing involving the mass deportation of immigrants and/or non-white citizens. In May 2024, for instance, he expressed dismay at Richard Tice calling for a freeze on immigration, declaring: “We want NEGATIVE immigration, not just a freeze we want REMIGRATION!!”

If that wasn’t bad enough, Dillingham shared an Islamophobic post in August 2024, which said: “London police beat and arrest British patriots while allowing Muslim immigrants to do whatever they want. British politicians hate native Britons and kneel to Muslim immigrants. Sad truth.” He didn’t respond to a request for comment.

🥴 Goulding’s Gobbledegook

Someone Dillingham would likely get on with is Nick Goulding, a 2024 Reform parliamentary candidate who unsuccessfully stood for the party’s board in 2025. Last year, we pointed out that Goulding, like Dillingham, appears to have a penchant for whacky conspiracy theories.

Nick Goulding

As well as calling climate change a “scam” and promoting Neil Oliver’s Covid-19 conspiracy theories on social media, Goulding propagated nonsense about the World Economic Forum (WEF) – a common bugbear of fantasists who believe it is trying to take over the planet. Posts shared by him included one calling Keir Starmer a “soulless WEF stooge” and another declaring that “WEFminster must fall”.

So, what’s Goulding up to these days? Last month, he announced on LinkedIn that he is starting an exciting new job as… Reform’s Cheshire campaigns manager. Good luck!

🤮 Beresford’s Bigotry

“I promise you we are doing everything we can to make sure these candidates for the Scottish parliament are vetted, and are fit and proper people to put before the electorate,” pronounced Nigel Farage back in January, assuring reporters that his party’s vetting would get better in future.

Alas, once Reform had unveiled its Holyrood candidates a few months later, several swiftly made headlines for the wrong reasons. One such was Senga Beresford, standing for the party in Galloway and West Dumfries, who was exposed for supporting the serial criminal Stephen Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) and calling for the deportation of all British Muslims. Any suggestion that holding such views meant she was not, in fact, a “fit and proper” person to put before the electorate was soon quashed by Reform’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, who said she’s “a good person” and will “be a first-class MSP”.

Senga Beresford

Despite the revelations, Beresford nevertheless became a Reform MSP in May. And the racist MSP has recently increased her responsibilities in the Scottish Parliament becoming a member of the… Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. What could possibly go wrong!

💵 Sunderland’s Savings

On 24 October, the Reform group on Sunderland City Council, which the party has controlled since May’s local elections, excitedly announced on Facebook: “£3.6 MILLION TAKEN OUT OF THIS YEAR’S CAPITAL BUDGET UNDER REFORM”. The post explained that the party is “challenging the way Sunderland City Council spends taxpayers’ money”, adding: “No more accepting expensive spending plans without challenge. Every penny of public money must be justified. Vote Reform, Get Reform.”

The saving Reform’s Sunderland contingent was so proud to have achieved? No longer committing £3.6 million to build domestic abuse accommodation – which will instead be moved into next year’s budget as they explore “whether a Registered Provider can fund and deliver the scheme instead”. If Reform wants to improve its image among women, this might not be the best way to go about it.