UK’s largest trade union saw 272% surge in new members after Reform leader warned climate and equality workers to seek ‘alternative careers’
Britain’s biggest trade union has seen membership TRIPLE in areas controlled by Reform UK after Nigel Farage warned council staff to find new jobs.
Unison figures show its membership increased by an average of 272% in the week after Reform took control of 10 councils and picked up more than 600 councillors in May’s local elections.
The data, shared with Sky News, shows an average of 64 people joined the union in the week beginning 5 May, following the poll in England on 1 May – compared with an average of 28 for the previous week and 21 for 2025 as a whole.
The surge came after Farage told a victory rally in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham: “I would advise anybody who’s working for Durham County Council on climate change initiatives or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or… things that you go on working from home, I think you all better really be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly.
‘This is not the US’
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea hit back at the Reform leader, saying: “This is not the US. Thankfully workers in the UK have laws to protect them from bad employers. And soon employees will get even more protection from unscrupulous bosses when the government’s new employment rights come in.
She told Sky News: “Membership has surged in areas where Reform did well in the local elections. Unions exist to ensure no one can play fast and loose with the law. Any staff working for councils now controlled by Reform, and who aren’t already a UNISON member, should sign up so they can be protected too.
The union boss added: “Rather than attacking hard-working council staff, Mr Farage should be focusing on his own job representing the people of Clacton. But judging by his voting and speaking record in the House of Commons, he’d clearly rather be making big bucks elsewhere.”
Reform’s electoral breakthrough
The surge in union membership follows Reform UK’s dramatic success in the May 1 local elections, where the party:
- Won control of 10 councils including Durham, Kent, Derbyshire and Staffordshire
- Secured more than 600 councillor seats
- Won two mayoralties in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire
- Narrowly won the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary by-election by just six votes
Professor John Curtice noted Reform won “40 per cent of the 1,641 seats being contested, well above its share of the vote” and was “even able to win overall control of more than half a dozen councils, including, most remarkably, the former Labour fiefdom of Durham.”
‘Waging war’ on net zero
Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice declared the party would “wage war” against developers of renewable energy projects in Lincolnshire, while new Greater Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns pledged to “end the net zero madness.
Speaking in Staffordshire, Farage promised a “different culture” at the county council under Reform, insisting it would be one focused on performing “basic functions” for taxpayers.
Union’s anti-worker warning
McAnea warned that “A party that has voted consistently against modest measures to improve working conditions and threatened to sack council workers at the earliest opportunity is not one working people are likely to trust.
She added: “Reform has been keen to shout about its tax and benefits giveaways, but there’s precious little on which cherished public services will be sacrificed to pay for them.”
UNISON has been campaigning to highlight that Reform UK has consistently voted against the government’s new Employment Rights Bill, which includes measures to ban exploitative zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire and provide protection from unfair dismissal.
‘Nothing left to cut’
The union leader also warned Reform councillors they would face a harsh reality, saying: “Nigel Farage and his party’s new councillors have much to learn about local government. They’ll quickly discover there’s nothing left to cut and many authorities are balancing on the edge of the financial precipice.”
She added: “Most local authorities would love to be doing their core work, as Mr Farage says. But they simply don’t have the staff nor the resources to do even that.”
Training boycott
In a further development, Farage announced that Reform councillors were refusing to do training on climate change and diversity, declaring his troops would ignore instructions to get briefings “because we believe all people should be treated equally.
The Reform leader posted on social media: “Reform UK councillors are being instructed to take part in DEI and climate change training. Our new elected officials will do no such thing because we believe all people should be treated equally.”
A veteran council official warned of potential consequences, saying: “You can’t just sack unionised, contracted workers, without expecting potentially strikes, employment tribunals and resulting costly exit packages and compensation.
Image credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons — Licensed under CC BY‑SA 2.0
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