Reform UK councillor Dan Harrison has resigned from his position as leader of Leicestershire County Council after comments he made about staff redundancies were leaked.
Harrison had been the leader of the county council since May 2025 when Reform became the largest party.
But now, he’s stepped down from his role after he described 76 council solicitors who were being made redundant as “incompetent” in leaked comments, the BBC reports.
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Harrison is heard saying: “There’s 76 solicitors will be made redundant.
“We’ll buy in the service, because [they are] incompetent. They’re not doing a good job.
“What I want to look at now is the women so it is ongoing, I would like it to be at great pace but I can tell you now if we suddenly drove massive redundancies the liberals would walk away.”
In a statement on Monday, Harrison said he was resigning as council leader following advice he had received from senior Reform colleagues.
He said: “Earlier today (2 November) I wrote to the Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council, Jane Moore, advising her of my intention to step down as Leader of the Council.
“This was following advice I received from my Deputy Leader and Chief Whip.
“It has been the honour of my life to lead the first Reform UK administration at County Hall following the county council elections in May 2025.”
Harrison has said he will stay on as councillor for the Ashby-de-la-Zouch division, despite calls from the Conservative opposition for him to resign.
He has apologised to staff and officers on the council for his comments, but insisted the remarks had been taken out of context.
Harrison said: “I would like to apologise unreservedly to the staff and officers of the county council for any hurt, distress or offence caused by the publication of these comments, which were made during a heated meeting with the expectation of privacy and confidentiality.
“However, I would like to stress that these discussions were just that, and I have not given any instruction or direction to officers in these matters and that there has not been any discussion nor agreement on these issues with officers.”
He added: “I unequivocally reject any suggestion that staffing decisions are being taken based on gender.
“The comments made in that meeting were taken completely out of context.”