George Finch says he dismisses negative comments about his age, as he is concentrating on the job
George Finch had planned to be at university studying to become a history teacher.
Instead, at the age of 19, he has become the youngest council leader in the UK, running Warwickshire County Council with a budget of £2bn.
The Reform UK councillor still lives at his family home and cannot yet drive. Facts which have led to jibes in public and private from some opposition councillors.
Reform became the largest party on the previously Conservative-led authority with 23 seats in May’s local elections.
George Finch (right) speaks to BBC political reporter Simon Gilbert in the Warwickshire County Council leader’s office
Finch became interim leader when his predecessor Rob Howard quit with “much regret”, citing health reasons.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC, the teenager hit back at criticism about his lack of life and professional experience – labelling those turning their noses up at his appointment as “ageist” and “not relevant”.
Sitting down in the leader’s office, shortly after scraping through a leadership vote at the council’s Shire Hall headquarters, Finch called out his critics.
He said: “All I see is age… I don’t care about my age. Would people be questioning if there was a 70-year-old at the helm? Probably not.
“Joe Biden, Donald Trump, presidents that are older – no-one questions it. But they’re questioning someone who is 19.”
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Reform and former Conservative MP Lee Anderson is said to have inspired George Finch in terms of education policy
But leading a £2bn organisation is not a typical job for a 19-year-old, and Finch admitted he had had other plans.
“I wanted to be a history teacher. I loved history and I loved teaching but the problem was the curriculum, especially history. Universities and colleges are a conveyor belt for socialist wokeism.”
Finch said he had been inspired by Reform and former Conservative MP Lee Anderson, who has previously criticised educational establishments for what he perceives as teachers pushing “dog whistle divisive politics” on pupils.
In April, National Education Union members called for funds to be used to help campaign against Reform UK candidates.
The organisation, Britain’s biggest teaching union, branded Reform UK “a racist and far right” party.
In his time as interim leader, Finch said he had used his new “influence” over education by calling Anjit Samra, CEO of Stowe Valley Multi-Academy Trust, to his office after a row over a union jack dress at Bilton School, in Rugby.
“I don’t have the power to tell him what to do as he’s an academy, but I do have that influence.
“I asked him simple, I said ‘I would like to see, and I think it’s in your best interests, if you have a school assembly on the importance of British culture’.”
Reform has pledged to cut wasteful spending and improve the efficiency of the councils it runs. But some of its spending decisions have faced criticism, while opponents say there has been little concrete action to reduce costs.
In Warwickshire, opposition parties have criticised Finch and his party for planning to hire political assistants at a cost of up to £190,000 a year, saying the money should be spent on front-line services instead.
Asked what his friends made of his new job, the 19-year-old said: “They love it, when I have to go to the pub I don’t have to buy a pint.”
But why did Reform appeal to him and why is it gaining momentum with some young people?
“People can’t afford homes, they can’t have a car, postgraduate jobs are decreasing. It’s getting harder for us to see a good future, a better future. And with Reform UK, that’s what gives people that hope.”
He said he thought his appointment would probably help attract people to the party.
“It shows that anyone can do anything in this party, if you’re up to the task. If you’ve got that merit-based system – and that’s where we’ve gone wrong for far too long in the private and public sector.”
He added: “It’s ‘oh, here’s a job because of your skin colour or your creed or your religion’. No, you get the job because you’re good at it.”
Warwickshire County Council
Monica Fogarty, Warwickshire council’s chief executive, clashed with Finch after refusing to remove a Progress Pride Flag from outside the council HQ
Nigel Farage claimed that in some areas, Reform councillors were being “hamstrung” by “existing bureaucracies”
Talking about his priorities for Warwickshire over the coming months and years, Finch said having a sister with special educational needs and disabilities meant he had a keen interest in the area which has been labelled a financial threat to the future of the council.
Another contentious area is the potential scrapping of lower-level authorities as part of the Labour government’s devolution plans.
Finch said he wanted to look at these ideas in his county and he would like to see areas such as Nuneaton and Bedworth given their own town councils.