Staffordshire County Council, now under Reform UK control, is preparing to dismantle its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) measures in what the party describes as the boldest such move by a British local authority. The council plans to axe all EDI training modules, abolish identity-based staff networks, and overhaul hiring practices so that no one is disadvantaged or advantaged based on protected characteristics.
Reform UK's Blueprint for National Rollout
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said the party promised voters during the local elections to “rip out the toxic EDI culture from every council we control.” He added: “Thanks to the excellent work of our brilliant team in Staffordshire, that’s exactly what we’re delivering. This is decisive action that finally ends the Tory-enabled creep of this woke nonsense into our local authorities. This is common sense in action and it should be rolled out as a blueprint for every council right across the country.”
The council’s new cabinet position paper, titled “Equality Before the Council,” outlines plans to end “virtue-signalling campaigns” and “abolish unfair hiring and career progression practices.” An audit across the council will identify “pointless policies” and “potential financial savings.”
Local Leaders Speak Out
Staffordshire’s leader, Martin Murray, said: “When we stood for election in Staffordshire we promised that we would do away with nonsense EDI and ensure that everyone is treated and respected equally, under British law and without fear or favour. I spent decades owning and running nightclubs and I lived by one simple truth: equality means the same rules and same respect for every person, whether on a night out or inside a government authority.”
Deputy leader Hayley Coles added: “Every person who comes into contact with Staffordshire County Council is an individual of equal worth and standing, not a representative of a group or a proxy for a cause. That simple, radical, thoroughly British idea has been eroded step by step, over a matter of decades by frameworks that sort people into groups, weigh identity before evidence, and mistake the management of outcomes for the pursuit of fairness. We refuse to accept this any longer. This paper, and the policy reform that will follow, will restore what has been lost.”
Government and Local Government Association Response
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Councils are independent employers who are responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces.” The Local Government Association said it does not comment on individual councils.
The new cabinet paper is being distributed across all Reform UK-controlled councils in the hope that it can be used as a blueprint for similar local authority reforms. Reform UK says the measures are intended to unwind years of “EDI creep” when the council was run by the Conservatives.
