A council boss has defied their new Reform UK leader and refused to take down a Pride flag flying outside their county hall.
Warwickshire county council’s chief executive has been blasted by Zia Yusuf as acting like the ‘monarch of Warwickshire’ when she defied their party orders.
George Finch, the 18-year-old new leader of the authority, ordered the emblem to be taken down in line with Reform’s policy of only flying British flags.
But The Telegraph reports Monica Fogarty responded: ‘I am afraid I will not be taking the action that you are requesting.’
The banner depicted the ‘Progress Flag’, which also includes colours to represent trans people.
Ms Fogarty said that throughout and before her tenure in the job – for which she is paid between £196,303 and £213,001 – the flags have been flown during Pride month.
She claimed she had already made an agreement with former Reform leader of the council Rob Howard that both the St George’s flag and the Pride flag would be flown, before he resigned citing ‘health challenges’ last week, leaving the teenager in charge.
Yusuf claimed Ms Fogarty was undertaking a ‘coup d’etat’ and said it was a ‘subversion of democracy’.
He said: ‘These people are drunk on their own power, and for decades have been totally unaccountable. Until now – Reform elected officials are fighting back. Unlike the two old parties, Reform will fight for you.’
Finch, who only recently switched allegiance from the Conservatives to Reform UK, became interim leader of Warwickshire County Council – one of the largest local authorities in the Midlands – last week.
He took over from Mr Howard, who quit his post with immediate effect just weeks after the party’s shock gains in the May local elections saw it form a minority administration in Warwickshire for the first time.
In a brief statement, Mr Howard, who had been at the helm for less than two months, said the decision was made ‘with much regret’.
‘The role of leader is an extremely demanding role and regretfully my health challenges now prevent me from carrying out the role to the level and standard that I would wish,’ he said.
He went on to confirm that Mr Finch, his teenage deputy and fellow Reform UK councillor, would now serve as acting leader until a permanent replacement is chosen.
Mr Finch, councillor for Bedworth Central, now finds himself in charge of a local authority with over £1.5billion in assets and a revenue budget of around £500 million.
Just earlier this month, Mr Howard told the BBC he was ‘not intimidated’ by the scale of the task at Warwickshire County Council and seemed optimistic about the Reform-led administration’s ability to deliver results.
Before joining Reform UK, he was a member of the Conservative Party for just three months.
He reportedly switched allegiance after concluding that Reform would take a tougher stance on illegal immigration – an issue he described as central to his political beliefs.
On the New Reformer website, Mr Finch outlines his views under three core themes: ‘Brexit, sovereignty and a strong and united family unit.’
Reform UK, led nationally by Nigel Farage, made unexpected strides in the local elections earlier this year, gaining council seats in areas previously considered solidly Conservative or Labour.
Warwickshire was among the party’s most striking victories, with Reform overtaking the Tories as the largest group, though without an outright majority.
