Reform UK won control of Lancashire County Council for the first time in May 2025. Among the Burnley and Padiham councillors handed senior responsibility was Cllr Tom Pickup, who represents the Padiham and Burnley West division.
For 2025/26 Cllr Pickup took on the role of Lead Member for Finance and Resources, with responsibility for how the county manages and reports its money. It put a Burnley councillor at the heart of the promise Reform had made to voters across Lancashire: value for money, tighter control of spending, and an end to waste.
Getting a grip on a council’s finances is unglamorous work that rarely makes headlines, but it is where the difference between careful and careless government is actually made. For Burnley and Padiham it meant a local voice in the room when the big decisions about the county’s budget were taken.
