A Reform UK councillor has defended an 18-year-old taking charge of a council with an £500million budget, arguing the teenager "can't do much harm" because experienced officers will make the decisions for him.
Speaking on GB News, Councillor Harrison Allman-Varty backed George Finch's appointment as interim leader of Warwickshire County Council, saying: "I personally think I'm all for it. At the end of the day, these are common sense ideas, and essentially we're talking as if the bar is high already.
"A reason why Reform has done so well in these local elections is because councils keep going bankrupt. So maybe we need a change from what we've been used to?
"Let's not be mistaken, he will be surrounded by advisers, many of whom would have been in there for years in that council.
Harrison Allman-Varty said that it is good to have someone with "fresh ideas"
GB NEWS
"So those of a technical nature will be still taken care of the same people."
He added: "I think essentially, there's not too much harm that individual could do anyway, if we're going to go down that route, because they're surrounded by people who really have been doing that job for a long, long time."
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Finch, 18, from Nuneaton, became the youngest-ever acting council leader in the UK after Rob Howard resigned from the position citing health challenges, just 41 days after taking office.
The teenager now oversees a local authority with £1.5billion in assets and a revenue budget of approximately £500million, serving around 600,000 residents across nearly 2,000 square kilometres.
Allman-Varty, who himself first ran for election at 18, defended the appointment by pointing to Finch's electoral success.
He said: “Like I said, it's common sense, and I think essentially, there's not too much harm that individual could do anyway, if we're going to go down that route, because they're surrounded by people who really have been doing that job for a long, long time.
“I think for the Conservatives to try and trip him up on this, I think it's pure ageism, and we don't know how good or bad this person is going to be. And I think the Conservatives really should focus on getting young people to vote for them in the first place.
“We've been relying on real world life experience in these councils forever.
"The average age of a council in this country is 60, and it's one of the worst run organisations that we've got in this country; everybody complains about their local councils.
“They are mismanaged. So I go back to my main point: what are we missing here in the first place?
Councillor George Finch is just 18 years old
FACEBOOK"I think it's nice that we're going to have someone who's fresh, will have new ideas, will have completely different exposure and experiences. And I say, bring it on.”
Opposition parties have expressed concern about the appointment, with John Holland, deputy leader of the Labour group at Warwickshire County Council, saying that handling a local authority with such significant resources requires "people with experience."
Jerry Roodhouse, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, called the leadership instability "not good news", particularly given challenges facing the council including Send provision and adult social care.
Finch has described his main principles as "having integrity, honesty and respect" and says he would be politically summed up as supporting "Brexit, sovereignty, strong military and most importantly a strong and united family unit."
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