Pension fund politics snippet

Big gains for Reform today could affect RI in the LGPS

UPDATE: I’m just going to list the significant Reform results as they are confirmed

Staffordshire (LGPS Central) - Reform control

Derbyshire (LGPS Central) - Reform control

Nottinghamshire (LGPS Central) - Reform control

Worcestershire (LGPS Central) - NOC, Reform largest party

Leicestershire (LGPS Central) - NOC, Reform largest party

Lincolnshire (Border to Coast) - Reform control

Durham (Border to Coast) - Reform control

Warwickshire (Border to Coast) - NOC, Reform largest party

Lancashire (LPP) - Reform control

Kent (Access) - Reform control

I wrote a while back about how Reform might take a tilt against Responsible Investment given half a chance. On the back of making what look likely to be strong gains on local councils today, we might start to see if/how this plays out in practice. In particular we might end the day with a couple of LGPS pools having one or more Reform-controlled administering authorities amongst their members.

At the time of writing Reform has already taken control of of Staffordshire (LGPS Central), looks very likely to do so in Lincolnshire (Border to Coast), and is currently making strong gains in Durham (Border to Coast) and Warwickshire (Border to Coast). And it’s worth keeping an eye on several others including Leicestershire (LGPS Central) and Nottinghamshire (LGPS Central). We could end up with a very different map later today.

Reform has been increasingly vocal both in its opposition to ‘Net Zero’ (loosely defined) and its support for more economic intervention. For example, it has called for nationalisation of both steel and Thames Water. And, as a reminder, in its 2024 manifesto it suggested UK utilities could 50% owned by the state and 50% owned by UK pension funds.

You have to think pension committee meeting discussions of ESG issues could become quite different where Reform have the chair and most members.