How Sunderland City Council's Reform UK leaders aim to deliver on their 'massive mandate'

Councillor Chris Eynon, who represents Redhouse, was formally appointed as council leader at the city’s annual meeting in May following historic election results which saw Reform UK sweep to power.

Reform UK councillors have already set out some priorities, with full council motions linked to houses in multiple occupation and “rescinding” the council's climate emergency agreed in June.

Council leader Cllr Eynon, who has quit his day job as a financial advisor to work as council leader full-time, said the first month had been “hectic in parts” but praised council staff for being “professional and welcoming”.

For Cllr Eynon, aged 31, his journey into politics started with the Vote Leave campaign before time spent in the Conservatives and then Reform UK.

He has spent years growing Reform’s local vote share and even standing as a General Election candidate in 2024.

Since being elected council leader, the University of Sunderland graduate said the party had been moving from “campaigning to governance” and acknowledged there was a “lot of learning to do”.

Early priorities have included “reassuring people” and “putting to bed myths” around Reform councils and preparing to deliver on Reform UK's “massive mandate” in Sunderland.

The new council leader said cabinet titles had been “tweaked” to emphasise Reform UK's objectives, including supporting the city's veterans community, championing heritage and promoting “social mobility”, with cabinet members chosen for their varied experience and professional backgrounds.

Cllr Eynon said he hoped to follow other Reform UK councils in uncovering “wasteful spending” with specific proposals looked at in the 2027-28 budget, with potential reviews around contracts, planned cycle lanes, some capital schemes and more.

With a growing number of councils across the country facing financial difficulties and central government intervention, Cllr Eynon acknowledged Sunderland City Council would have to “box clever with finite resources”.

He added that Reform UK would avoid “new lending” for projects at present due to the “unfavourable borrowing environment”, and noted “Sunderland's balance sheet is more robust than other North East councils”.

On setting council tax for 2027-28, Cllr Eynon said Reform UK would “cross that bridge when we come to it” but said the council, in an “ideal world”, would “keep it as low as we possibly can”.

However, he also acknowledged that the council is legally required to provide funding for adult social care and children's services, which takes up around two thirds of the council's overall budget, and noted there were financial challenges ahead.

“We want to obviously make sure we're looking after people but we're going to have to get more Central Government help along the way, so that's one thing we'll be lobbying for,” he added.

Since the May elections, Reform UK Hylton Castle councillor, Glenn Gibbins, has sparked controversy with protests outside City Hall linked to a historic social media post about the city's Nigerian community.

Council leader Cllr Eynon, speaking in response to a public question at the June 2026 full council, stressed Cllr Gibbins's reinstatement to the party following an investigation was “not an endorsement” of the “offensive” comments.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Eynon added that all political parties “have people who say things and fall beneath standards” and noted that following Cllr Gibbins's formal apology “we move on”.

Looking ahead, the council leader hopes to maximise the use of external funding and support the ongoing regeneration of the city centre, describing the river as the “heart of the city”.

This includes key schemes at the Riverside Sunderland regeneration site, progressing plans for High Street West, new housing at Sheepfolds and a new Esports arena, along with new strategic corporate plans being developed for the city.

Cllr Eynon, who is originally from Ryhope, stressed he was “not a career politician” and wanted to reassure residents that “change is good” and that Reform UK councillors were “normal hard-working people” with “good ideas for the area”.

The “main ethos” for the Reform UK Group is “Sunderland first”, which Cllr Eynon said would underpin policy decisions in coming months.

He added: “I just want to be a council where after four years, as an example, people say they have left it in a better state than when they found it and having a really good record.

“To say that, despite all the scaremongering, actually they’re a good bunch and have listened to people, there’s been no major dramas and that they have delivered for the city, continued the regeneration and improved people’s lives.”