Nigel Farage Makes Light Of Concerns Over A Reform Mayor’s Huge Pay Rise. No One Else Is Laughing.

Nigel Farage just laughed and insisted he had “no idea” when asked about how a Reform UK mayor just received a huge pay rise – and was instantly torn apart on social media.

Reform UK has made no secret of its ambitions to win the next general election, and is currently leading in the polls.

So far, it has an outright majority over 10 local authorities after a major victory in May’s local elections. 

But, judging by the Reform leader’s response to a development in Scarborough council, handling any more than that may prove difficult.

On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the presenter asked for his response to reports that Scarborough town council have given its Reform mayor, Thomas Murray, a 600% pay rise.

But Farage immediately hit back: “I’ve no idea! Whether what you say is true or not, I’ve no idea.”

“Is that the right thing to do in principle?” Kuenssberg asked.

“I’ve no idea, it’s a town council – 600%, what is it from what?” Farage said.

She replied: “A payment of £500 up to £3,500 –”

“I don’t know, is he or she doing it as a full-time job? I’ve no idea,” he said dismissively.

But Kuenssberg kept pushing: “In principle is that the right thing to do?”

He replied: “What we could do is get multi-millionaires to stand as candidates everywhere, and indeed our [government waste] DOGE team are doing the work, unpaid, right?

“If people have got resources and they want to do it for free, that’s great. I don’t know the Scarborough circumstances.”

The Reform-run council defended the hike, which was approved in a meeting last Wednesday, saying the mayor should not be left “out of pocket” for an unpaid position considering it involved an increase in responsibilities.

They also noted that savings had already been made elsewhere – ignoring the irony that Reform has reportedly promised to give council taxpayers “better value for money and reduce excessive expenditure”.

His responses impressed very few people on social media as the public raged over his “unserious” reaction – and even accused him of “running” from problems…

Farage also seemed dismissive of other, much larger, questions about money elsewhere in the interview when he was asked how much it would cost to privatise 50% of the water industry – one of Reform’s major policy proposals.

He just said it “doesn’t need to be a big sum of money.”

So commentators on X quickly drew attention to the way Kuenssberg scrutinised Reform’s economic credibility…