In her first interview since being elected, the new Reform UK leader of Walsall Council has spoken about 'wasted money', net zero policies, and whether the national anthem will be played ahead of full council meetings.
New Leadership and Immediate Savings
Councillor Elaine Williams, ward member for Short Heath, was chosen as leader of the Reform UK group after it won by a landslide at the local elections last month. Originally from West London, she moved to Walsall in 2011 and trained as a solicitor specializing in probate law.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Councillor Williams confirmed that £109,000 of taxpayers' money had already been saved. The savings came from reducing the number of cabinet members, having one less committee, and downsizing the mayoral welcome party last month.
She said: "We restructured the governance of the council. We have seven members of cabinet now, and you can have up to 10. Also, we've reduced the number of committees by one. And of course, everything comes with a special responsibility allowance. On the Mayor making day, we didn't have a big celebration like we usually do. We went back to the Mayor's parlour and had tea and cake. They used to have lots of food, and there were lots of guests that apparently had to be uninvited."
Council Tax and Garden Waste Collections
In Walsall, residents pay the highest council tax among all seven local authorities in the West Midlands region. The budget approved in February 2026 also predicts a further year-on-year increase of 4.99 percent over the next three years. Councillor Williams refused to make any promises about whether residents will continue to see increases but said she is 'mindful' that it should be 'as low as possible'.
Collections for brown garden waste bins are set to be extended into December but may not start until 2027 since this year's budget is already set. Councillor Williams gave no guarantees about whether charges will be introduced for garden bins, similar to most neighboring authorities. She said: "It's always a difficult one when you're asking about charges. As a resident, my personal view is that I wouldn't want to see charges for the bins because it may well increase fly tipping."
Net Zero Policies Under Scrutiny
Ahead of the elections, Reform UK vowed to stop 'costly net zero policies' and 'end the spending on the council's 2041 net zero programme'. Councillor Williams said that up until November 2025, £23.462 million had been spent on net zero policies by Walsall Council.
She said: "With all these things, what is it being spent on? Is it being spent on feasibility studies? Consultations that go nowhere? Who's had what? I believe it's just an extra expense to the taxpayer. Climate change is an interesting thing because if you look over time it has always changed, it goes around in cycles. Things get hot and then they go cold.
"If you actually clean the drains out, which used to happen when I was a child, and dredge the rivers, a lot of the flooding we see wouldn't take place. What we're seeing is symptomatic of cutbacks over the years of different services that we used to have. We've got to have heat-pumps now, but they actually keep your house colder than central heating systems. If you want to have central heating, there's nothing wrong with using gas. It's natural. Electric cars are supposed to be better, but the batteries are so damaging to the environment and where you have to get the parts from. I'll personally never have an electric car, ever."
National Anthem and Other Controversial Topics
Ahead of the elections, Reform vowed it would play the National Anthem before full council meetings but it is yet to be implemented. Speaking to the LDRS, Councillor Williams said the group had to check how to initiate the move, whether it would require full council approval or not.
Other controversial topics discussed included the Reedswood Park school, Darlaston town board, and ramping up CCTV and enforcement efforts. In Darlaston, members of the Reform group have long criticized the makeup of the neighborhood board, which will decide how £20 million of government funding is spent in the area. Reform members argue that the board is not resident-led. Brownhills and Blakenall are also set to get £20 million worth of government funding, and Councillor Williams said she didn't want to see 'the same scenario' as in Darlaston.
On Reedswood Park, Walsall Council is currently waiting for a planning application from the Department for Education to develop a 1,000-place school on 13.7 acres of woodland at the beauty spot. Reform UK opposed the plans in the run-up to the election. Councillor Williams said: "We said it was not the right site to be built on but it depends how much our hands are tied at the end of the day by national government and whether that funding could be used elsewhere. It's a difficult one. We're looking at what the specifications are, what the Department of Education has actually stipulated with the money."
Why Reform UK Won
When asked why Reform had such success in the local elections last month, Councillor Williams said people in Walsall have been unhappy for 'some time now'. She added: "Residents don't feel they were being listened to by the previous administration. We've got the planning, the enforcement, the Leather Museum. People wanted change. I've lived here since 2011 and I've seen a decline in Walsall over that time. I think it probably declined before I came as well. The Labour government is not helping people at all. The Conservatives didn't perform well either, and at the end of the day, we are different and we want to fight for what residents want."
