Tom 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🦢

Reform UK’s new Welsh Leader: Dan Thomas A long career of failure in Barnet, who almost tanked the council… Dan Thomas served as the Leader of Barnet Council from 2017 to 2022. His time is marked by him being chief architect of Barnet’s “Commissioning Council” model, often dubbed “The Barnet EasyCouncil”. Under Thomas’s leadership, this reached £1 billion+ in “Strategic Partnership” with Capita, outsourcing the bulk of the council’s functions (from finance and IT to environmental services and planning) in two massive contracts. The Controversy and “Capita Crisis” The outsourcing model, especially the Capita contracts, became synonymous with high-profile failures: · Massive Data Breaches: Multiple serious data breaches occurred, including one exposing the personal details of thousands of residents. · Critical Service Failures: There were systemic problems in planning, licensing, and housing benefits. Barnet’s planning department became one of the slowest in the country. · Financial Scrutiny: The contracts were criticised for lack of transparency and control. A £2 million fraud by a Capita employee in the pensions service was a major scandal. · Public Backlash: The model was widely seen as putting ideology and cost-cutting ahead of service quality and resident welfare. The slogan “Barnet – the Council that Works for You” was often mocked by residents experiencing the opposite. Following his 2022 election loss, he stepped down as Conservative group leader and largely retreated from frontline politics. In summary, the most interesting aspect of Dan Thomas is that he became the personification of Britain’s most ambitious and, ultimately, most troubled experiment in wholesale council outsourcing. His leadership offers a stark case study in the collision of free-market ideology with the practical, day-to-day realities of delivering public services. nation.cymru/news/dan-thomas…

Just for the record, this is Matthew MacKinnon, supporting #Caerphilly Reform candidate @LlyrPowell. He's also a convicted football hooligan and writes policy for Reform UK and also stood for the Conservatives alongside Powell. He founded the Centre for Wales with Powell, so was also buddy with Nathan Gill the Reform Russian Bribe traitor. State of Reform UK: walesonline.co.uk/news/polit…