A Reform UK-governed Council has welcomed a multi-million pound active travel investment scheme and championed local initiatives to encourage more adults and young people to cycle, marking a split in policy with the national party.

West Northamptonshire Council has announced a host of programmes on World Bicycle Day, “encouraging people to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of getting on a bike.” Basic repair sessions, anti-bike theft presentations, and relaxed guided rides are among the activities included.

The Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Reform UK Cllr Richard Butler, has championed the events, many arranged in partnership with British Cycling, as “a simple, affordable way to boost your health and wellbeing, while also helping to reduce congestion and improve air quality across our communities. We’re pleased to be working with our partners to make it easier for people to get active and travel sustainably.”

Cllr Butler is also quoted as endorsing the latest phase of the Abington Active Travel Scheme which will see new segregated cycle lanes constructed along Bridgewater Drive and Park Avenue, alongside upgrades to footpaths and pavements. The latest phase of the project is due to finish in the autumn and will cost £4.7m, funded through the Active Travel Fund, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and local transport grants.

“This next phase of the Abington Active Travel Scheme will make a positive difference to how people get around this part of Northampton. By creating safer and more accessible routes, we are making it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle as part of their everyday journeys,” he said.

Reform UK swept to power in last year’s West Northamptonshire Council elections, winning 42 seats in the historically Conservative-supporting area and have subsequently governed as a majority administration. Having previously stood unsuccessfully for election as an independent, and served on Brackley town council, Butler was elected as a North Northamptonshire councillor for the town last year, and was subsequently appointed to the cabinet. He was also appointed as a director of West Midlands Rail.

The project has received some criticism on social media from residents, but concerns are mainly focused on the choice of highway maintenance provider to build the infrastructure, rather than the project itself.

Butler’s comments are at odds with the policy and pronouncements of his national party and leader, who have been sceptical and hostile of both active travel investment, and road safety policy more broadly. Notably, party leader Nigel Farage has disputed the road safety benefits of lowering the drink-driving limit in England and Wales in line with Scotland.

> Nigel Farage claims plan to lower drink drive limit “designed by the Islington cycling classes” – as Reform UK leader says: “We’re now incredibly safe on our roads”

Farage has also criticised “tens of millions being spent on cycle lanes that no one uses” by councils that are “on the verge of bankruptcy,” despite the majority of walking and cycle infrastructure using funds delegated from central government through the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund.

The party leader’s criticism has also turned into an electoral targeting of pro-cycling local authorities. During the coronavirus pandemic, when many pop-up cycle lanes were established, Farage announced the 2021 local elections would see his newly renamed Brexit Party target councils where “new bike lanes with their endless lines of shiny white posts lie empty while traffic jams block what is left of the roads.” The party won two council seats in England.


West Northamptonshire Council is not the only Reform UK-led administration to have unexpectedly welcomed active travel investment and infrastructure. Neighbouring North Northamptonshire Council, which also went from Conservative to Reform UK control in 2025, championed a new 1.5km segregated cycle lane connecting Corby railway station to the town centre.

> From the party that brought you ‘cycle lanes are a waste of money’: Reform UK council hails “excellent” new bike path, celebrating “safer and greener environment for everyone”

The £8.3 million initiative, which was funded by the previous Conservative Government’s Towns Fund, was championed by the council leader for creating a “safer and greener environment for everyone.” Months earlier, Martin Griffiths said net zero was not a matter for local councils but a “global matter” that was “making everyone poorer.”