Reform UK has told the councillors who run its local administrations to "resist making major changes" in their first 100 days in office, according to a party guide seen by The Independent, at the same time as Nigel Farage campaigns on a promise to upend national government within that period.
The guide, which The Independent reports is dated August 2026 and addressed to the party's local government cabinet members, says their first priorities "should be to listen, learn and understand" and advises them to "listen more than you speak." The paper has not published the document, and Reform has neither confirmed nor denied that it is genuine.
The advice sits awkwardly with the campaign Mr Farage has built around the same number. Reform branded its September conference "The First 100 Days", and the party leader has toured the country under the banner "100 Days to Save Britain", most recently at a rally in Plymouth on 20 October.
Speaking at the Birmingham NEC on 4 September, Mr Farage pledged to declare a national emergency and to have Parliament sit, if necessary, 24 hours a day, six days a week until his programme had passed. "We will stop the boats within the first 100 days of government. End of," he said, according to the extract of the speech Reform published the following day. "We believe in jeopardy. We believe in accountability."
That evening he wrote on X: "On my first day as Prime Minister, I will declare a national emergency. Parliament will sit 24 hours a day until all necessary bills have been passed."
The Spectator reported that he told the conference Parliament would sit for six days a week and that civil servants who tried to resist would be fired and replaced with business people from outside.
Reform's published pledges document, "The First 100 Days: our pledges to you", goes further, binding every member of a future front bench to a written commitment. "If they fail to deliver on their 100 day pledge, they will resign. If they don't resign, I will sack them," it says.
Asked about the guide, a Reform UK spokesman did not dispute its existence but drew a line between the party's national promises and the position of its councillors.
"Reform UK has specifically pledged to make fundamental changes to the way this country works in our first 100 days in government. We fully intend on delivering on our promises.
"Where councillors have made similar pledges to their electorate, we would always expect them to make good on those assurances. Reform offers comprehensive support and guidance to help new councillors do exactly that."
The Independent describes the guide as a direct contradiction of the national campaign. The passages it quotes are brief, and the paper has not said whether the document also instructs cabinet members to deliver on manifesto commitments. Advice to new council executives to familiarise themselves with an authority before restructuring it is a common feature of induction material in local government.
The guide's date also places it close to the 100-day mark of Reform's new administrations. The party took control of a string of councils in May 2026, and Reform-run authorities including Barnsley and Norfolk did not reach 100 days under Reform leadership until early September. Reform has not said who received the guide or when it was circulated.
The legal basis for Mr Farage's central promise has separately been questioned. UK Fact Check said after the speech that there is no mechanism in UK law for a prime minister to declare a national emergency, and that any legislation would still require the approval of the House of Lords. Reform has not responded to that assessment.
Mr Farage has said he expects a general election next year.
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