Potholes and change: Why Essex voted for Reform

Reform UK won control of Thurrock Council and Essex County Council at last week's local elections.

For a quarter of a century the Conservatives had held a majority at the latter, but the shift was so significant that even former leader Kevin Bentley lost his seat.

Reform, led by Clacton MP Nigel Farage, has made gains across the country, and also picked up seats in former Labour heartlands.

Voters appear willing to take a chance on a party with less experience than the traditional "big two", but in Essex the reasons behind that shift vary.

Basildon is part of the government's Pride in Place programme. Under this scheme two areas in the town will receive £20m over a 10-year period.

However, 65-year-old lorry driver Dave Milton believes Labour's investment is driven by fear of Reform UK and it still falls short.

He said: "You risk tripping over every time you step out your front door, there's vegetation growing out of every crack, every pavement.

"There's potholes that you could go swimming in... there is quite a lot of under-investment into this area."

In a speech on Monday, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned the country was facing "dangerous opponents" following Reform's success.

But Dave, a former Labour voter, argued that the "British people wouldn't really stand for truly dangerous politicians" and described such labels as "exaggerated".

"I voted Reform because I think there's been a build-up in this country over the years of people feeling they're not being listened to, particularly working class people," he said.

"I think because they have got an option now with Reform, I think that's the way they're going.

"I think it is going to kick the big two parties up the backside."

Paige Alexander, 27, owns Lacy's Boutique in Basildon where trade can be unpredictable.

"Some days are good; some days are bad," she says.

"We do a lot of online selling, so that's where most of our clientele is based... the footfall, that's quite bad, but other than that it's going OK."

In the run up to the election, she found local councillors were "more about point scoring than actually focusing on the problems at hand".

Although she did not vote in the Basildon election because she lives outside the area, she said she was "glad" Reform performed well and hopes it leads to change.

She explains: "It's just because it's something different — what can they offer us in terms of what we haven't had before?

"Labour as it stands wasn't going to do much for us as businesses. We are hopeful that Reform will change that.

"Britain is in dire need of change and I don't think Keir Starmer is the person for the job... I don't think that a small town like Basildon is the top of his priorities.

"I feel like he's got other priorities that are more important than family-run businesses."

For 18-year-old Terry McNally, Reform seemed "the best out of a bad bunch".

"All politicians are liars, so you got to pick the best sounding liars," he explained.

For Terry, whose mother legally migrated to the country, an important issue was illegal immigration.

He said: "I do think there's a couple issues going on with like hotels and stuff like that."

Locally the teenager is worried about the state of local infrastructure.

He explained: "There's loads of potholes all over where I'm from. I just want the money to be spent wisely, to be honest. It's all our money."

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