By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Shire Hall’s newly-elected Reform UK members say they will need advice on how to do the job and hope to get help from town councillors and former county civic chiefs.
The populist right-wing political party led by Nigel Farage won 11 out of the 55 seats in the Gloucestershire County Council elections on May 1.
The authority, which has a budget of £665 million this year, is responsible for services such as roads and public transport, schools, social care, libraries, and waste disposal.
The Liberal Democrats, with 27 councillors are on course to lead the council, while Reform is the largest opposition group.
Two of their new councillors attended Cinderford Town Council’s annual meeting yesterday (May 13).
Ray Donaghue, who took the Cinderford seat, said he was surprised just how well the election went.
He told the meeting he is just getting to grips with the role of being a councillor.
“I’ve taken over from Graham Morgan, I just want to say thank you very much Graham for all the advice you’ve given me and hope we can meet soon and get a bit of handover,” he said.
“I live and work in the local area. I work in homelessness, addiction, housing. I ran for Reform. I’m surprised just how well the election went.
“I’m looking forward to working with everyone. At the moment I’m just getting to grips with the role with induction and training.
Stuart Graham, who was elected as County Councillor for Mitcheldean and Forest of Dean District councillor for Cinderford East, was also present at the meeting in the Belle Vue Centre.
He said he hoped he could rely on the town councillors’ assistance in the months and years to come.
“All of us in Reform are very new to the game,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve come in with wet feet and will be able to pick up on all of this sort of stuff.
“We will need your help, assistance and advice along the way.
“We look forward to working with you.”