Fact check: Examining Reform UK’s Council Tax Promises

In the wake of the 2025 local elections, a political dispute has emerged over whether Reform UK has delivered on its tax promises at the council level, with both Labour and Conservative parties accusing Nigel Farage’s party of breaking campaign pledges.

The controversy centers on whether Reform UK promised to cut council tax during last year’s local election campaigns and whether those promises have been fulfilled in the councils now under Reform control.

According to an analysis by Full Fact, the UK’s largest fact-checking charity, there is no clear evidence that Nigel Farage himself explicitly promised to cut or freeze council tax. While campaign materials featured Farage alongside pledges to “reduce waste and cut your taxes,” these statements appeared alongside national policy commitments such as immigration control and scrapping Net Zero targets, suggesting they may have referred to national rather than local taxation.

Farage has consistently denied making specific council tax reduction promises, clarifying in March 2026 that the tax-cutting pledges referred to national policies Reform would implement if elected to government.

However, the investigation revealed that several local Reform candidates did make explicit promises regarding council tax during their campaigns. In North Northamptonshire, which Reform went on to win, candidates signed a letter pledging to “freeze council tax.” Similarly, in Leicestershire, Dan Harrison, who became council leader, stated: “We’ll then have money for frontline [services] but we’ll also be able to cut council tax.”

Durham council leader Andrew Husband indicated after his election that it was the party’s “ambition not to have another council tax increase next year,” though he framed this as aspirational rather than a firm commitment. Other Reform campaign materials explicitly mentioned intentions to “fight to reduce council tax” or “freeze council tax & business rates.”

When examining the reality of council tax rates for 2026/27, Full Fact found that every upper-tier council in England has increased council tax, with three-quarters raising it by the maximum allowed without triggering a referendum (4.99%). None of the councils where Reform explicitly pledged to freeze or cut rates have actually done so.

Reform currently controls nine upper-tier local authorities with majority status. The council tax increases in these areas range from 1.99% in Durham to 4.99% in North Northamptonshire. The party also has minority control in three additional authorities, where increases range from 2.99% in Leicestershire to an exceptional 8.98% in Worcestershire (which received special government permission to exceed the standard cap).

When defending its record, Reform points out that with the current CPI inflation rate at approximately 3%, three of its councils (Durham, Lincolnshire, and Leicestershire) have implemented effective real-terms decreases in council tax by keeping increases below inflation.

The party also highlights that the nine upper-tier councils controlled by a Reform majority have increased Band D council tax by an average of 3.94% for 2026/27, which is lower than the overall average increase of 4.86% across all councils in England.

In Doncaster, which has a Reform majority but operates under a Labour directly-elected mayor, a proposed increase of 4.99% was reduced to 2% through a Reform amendment.

The dispute illustrates the challenges of accountability in local politics, where national party messaging may differ from local candidate promises, and where economic realities often constrain the ability to deliver on campaign pledges once in power.