Leicestershire Reform leader quits after leaked staff comments

Dan Harrison has resigned as leader of Leicestershire County Council after a leaked recording captured him discussing redundancies among council staff, including saying he wanted to look at “the women”. He will remain a councillor, while deputy leader Kevin Crook has taken over as acting leader.

Harrison, who had held the leadership since May 2025, announced his decision on Monday. He said it followed advice from senior Reform UK colleagues.

In the recording, made during a Reform meeting last week, Harrison said 76 council solicitors would be made redundant, describing them as “incompetent” and saying they were not doing a good job. He then referred to examining staffing among women and said he wanted redundancies to proceed quickly, while warning that moving too fast could cause the Liberal Democrats to “walk away”.

Harrison apologised “unreservedly” to council staff and officers for any hurt, distress or offence caused by the comments. He said the meeting had been heated and held with an expectation of privacy, and maintained that the remarks had been taken out of context.

He also said he had not instructed officers to make staffing changes, that there had been no agreement with them on the issue, and that he rejected any suggestion that staffing decisions were being made on the basis of gender.

The Conservative opposition had called for Harrison to go. Its 15 councillors had sought an emergency vote to remove him from the leadership, with group leader Deborah Taylor saying concerns about the treatment of council employees had made his position untenable. She said his resignation did not mean those concerns should be forgotten and that questions remained for the council.

Reform remains the largest group on the council, where it governs as a minority administration. Harrison represents the Ashby-de-la-Zouch division and is staying on as its councillor.