Reform UK’s local election wins have led to teenagers being put in charge of vital public services, including a 19-year-old who is overseeing children and family services while at university.
Two months after the elections in which Nigel Farage’s party took overall control of 10 councils, concerns have been raised about the experience of candidates who have been appointed to roles with wide-ranging responsibility.
At Leicestershire county council, the Reform councillor Charles Pugsley, 19, has been made the cabinet member for children and family services.
Pugsley’s elevation has caused particular concern, as has that of Joseph Boam, a 22-year-old who has been made the deputy council leader and handed the adult social care portfolio, despite having previously expressed the view that “depression isn’t real”.
Both are defenders of a Reform policy that would block the council from flying community emblems such as the Pride and disabled people’s flags over council property.
More than 100 social workers and other employees at the council have signed a letter condemning the policy, which they allege “promotes exclusion and marginalisation”.
According to the anti-extremism campaign group Hope Not Hate, a now deleted social media account appearing to belong to Boam had frequently retweeted and posted apparent praise for the misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate.
Another claim on the same account that “depression isn’t real” raised concern among fellow councillors who have written to Reform’s leader at Leicestershire. Boam has reportedly dismissed the allegation as “fake news”.
News of their appointments follow that of George Finch, 18, who has become the interim leader of the neighbouring Warwickshire county council a year after completing his A-levels.
Reform UK’s George Finch, 18, interim leader of Warwickshire county council, with party leader, Nigel Farage. Photograph: Unpixs/X
Their relative lack of experience has caused unease across the political divide. Deborah Taylor, a Conservative councillor and leader of the opposition who was the previous cabinet member for children and families in Leicestershire, questioned their qualifications to hold roles overseeing services that account for more than 70% of the council’s £616m budget.
“I am a huge champion of young people and young councillors but what really concerns me is that new young councillors should be nurtured rather than being thrown in at the deep end to what can be a quite full-on role where there is exposure to some real trauma and difficult decisions,” she said.
“Rather than age, it’s about political and life experience, whether that’s as someone who has worked or even as a parent with knowledge of household pressures.”
The concerns were echoed by social workers at the council.
“There is some confidence that much of what is being delivered can’t be changed because it is statutory and underpinned by legislation. But there are areas where resources are being allocated on a ‘spend to save’ basis, such as early interventions for families who may, for example, have had multiple removals of children,” said one.
“It’s an area where that spending has really paid off and there would be great concern about that being tinkered with or even cut.”
Julia Ross, the chair of the British Association of Social Workers, said: “Lead members for children’s and adults’ social services in local authorities are very important roles that carry the responsibility of handling hundreds of millions of pounds.
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“While we recognise and value the fresh perspectives that youth often brings, ideally, candidates should have experience in administrating such complex departments, as well as a working knowledge of their statutory duty to support what are often the most vulnerable people in our society.”
Pugsley and Boam have come into their roles as Reform has pledged to deliver Elon Musk-style efficiency savings at councils even though many services have been cut to the bone over recent years.
Neither responded to requests to comment although they have used their X accounts to answer critics.
“Some say I’m young. I say that’s exactly what this role needs. I understand the challenges young people face today because I’ve been there. Now I’m making sure young voices are heard,” Pugsley tweeted.
But this was questioned. Naomi Bottomley, a Green councillor, said: “I know that Charles Pugsley has alluded to the idea that he knows more about what children need because he is young. But he also went to a private school and is a landlord, so I’m not sure he has quite the same experience as many vulnerable young people.”
Pugsley, a computer science student at Nottingham University, is registered at Companies House as a director of two companies that list their business as the letting or operating of real estate.
He and Boam, along with Finch in Warwickshire, also reflect a drive by Farage to leverage support among gen Z voters, with the party’s popularity surging among 18- to 24-year-old men.
Preet Gill, a Birmingham Labour MP who has voiced concern about Finch’s role as leader at Warwickshire, said the appointments indicated how Reform would approach government.
“It’s a carbon copy of the way in which Farage operates. They have made a lot of noise from performance politics and from being disruptive, rather than actually saying or doing anything of substance when it comes to delivery, or knowing how to deliver adult social care or children’s services.”