Reform-led Warwickshire County Council has approved a £150,000 plan to hire political advisers.
The proposal was put forward by 19-year-old council leader George Finch and narrowly passed yesterday.
Before May’s local elections, Reform had pledged to cut “wasteful spending” in local government.
Now, the plan allows the three main parties—Reform, the Lib Dems, and the Tories—to each hire a taxpayer-funded political assistant.
The Lib Dems, Labour, and Greens opposed the move.
Green councillor 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.”
He added: “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.”
Finch defended the decision as legal and standard practice.
He said other parties could vote against it or choose not to hire assistants.
Reform councillor Michael Bannister called it “value for money”.
Lib Dem deputy leader George Cowcher disagreed: “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.”
After Reform’s county council wins in May, Nigel Farage had promised “Doge” teams, inspired by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, to reduce council waste.
But spending on political aides and raising the Reform mayor of Scarborough’s allowance by 600% per cent appears to contradict that.
Scarborough Town Council has made headlines in recent days too over its decision to give Reform UK mayor Thomas Murray a £3,500 allowance – up from £500 – in the authority’s annual budget.
This comes after the council had committed to cautious spending, the BBC reports.
Independent opposition councillor Rich Maw said he had “serious concerns” over the increase, but Reform members of the council have defended the increase, arguing the mayor “should not be left out of pocket.”