Alarm has been raised after 19-year-old George Finch was named leader of Warwickshire County Council weeks after a public spat over a Pride flag – and Reform was immediately accused of hypocracy
Alarm has been raised after a 19-year-old Reform politician was put in charge of a cash-strapped council – and immediately agreed to splash £150,000 on advisors.
George Finch was appointed at the helm of Warwickshire County Council after his predecessor quit having been in post for 41 days. Voters voiced concern about giving a teenager with no relevant experience so much power – particularly after he started a public spat over a Pride flag at the council.
Labour MP Preet Gill said: “This is not work experience.” Mr Finch, who served as interim council leader before his hotly-contested appointment, hit the headlines in June when he demanded a Progress Pride flag – showing support for the LGBTQ+ community – was removed.
The council’s chief executive, Monica Fogarty, refused to do so. The row prompted Nigel Farage to attack the public servant, suggesting she “should look for a new job”.
Following Mr Finch’s appointment at a meeting picketed by protesters, Warwickshire’s Reform group was accused of hypocrisy after agreeing to hire political advisors. This was despite pledging to cut wasteful spending.
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The council, which has an overall budget of £2billion currently faces an £87million defecit. Lib Dem councillor George Cowcher told The Guardian: “These proposals are all about spending some money so they can have a chum in their group and I think that is not particularly helpful given the financial state of this council.”
And the Green Party’s Sam Jones said: “Reform have had a sniff of power, they’re making it so clear that they never cared a jot for the will of their supporters. No to overpaid, unelected bureaucrats before the election, but yes to up to £150,000 of unfunded spending on political assistants now the campaigning is over.”
Mr Finch, who told the BBC he had wanted to be a teacher but was put off by “socialist wokeism”, said the leaders of all three big parties on the council – Reform, the Tories and the Lib Dems – would get a political assistant. This was because council officers had not shown enough imagination in past years, he claimed.
He hit out at those anxious about his young age, saying: “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.”
Ms Gill said voters in Warwickshire “frankly deserve better’. “This is not work experience,” she told the BBC. “This is not about learning on the job.”
His appointment drew a mixed reaction from locals. One woman told Channel 4 news it was “ridiculous”. She said: “Too young, no experience, big budget to deal with, a wide range of issues to cover. I just can’t see that he would have the experience to do it.”
Another said: “I think 19-year-olds can be supported. They can be chaperoned and shepherded in those roles. But I think that also takes resources as well. Have we got the time and the money for that in this country? I don’t think we have.”
However not everyone was against it. One young woman told the broadcaster: “I think it’s good. I think we need new people to lead and I think it’s going to be great for the country and the council.”
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