Community Wealth Building as antidote to the populist right
By Matthew Brown
June 13, 2025
The dramatic rise in support for the Reform UK party has the potential to upend the established party system and disrupt Britain’s political landscape for years to come.
In the May 2025 local and mayoral elections Reform gained an unprecedented 700 councillors, alongside two elected mayors, and a narrow victory in the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary by-election in North-West England.
Reform’s strategy is increasingly focused on winning over working class communities with rhetoric taking aim at the ‘political establishment.’ However, this rhetoric masks a hollow populism that has not prevented Reform opposing the Trades Union Congress (TUC)-supported Employment Rights Bill, that outlaws fire and rehire, zero-hours contracts and introduces new protections from unfair dismissal. Reform’s recent conversion to steel nationalization contrasts with Nigel Farage’s past positions such as calling for the industry to fold in 2023.
If one delves deeper, it becomes clear that Reform are a movement funded not primarily by working people but by the wealthy, with party treasurer Nick Candy stating proudly: “We have a number of billionaires prepared to donate to the party, not just Elon (Musk)”.
The danger here is that British democracy may soon mimic the American political system, with wealthy individuals supporting political movements that divide communities with right-wing populist rhetoric, emboldened by an establishment media, further polarising the country around issues of immigration, net zero and beyond.
The 2017 Republican presidential victory was described by one commentator as the “primal scream of the working class”, with voters expressing anger at decades of rising inequality, deindustrialization, and a lack of agency over their economic lives. This was especially true in areas like the American Rust Belt where support for Donald Trump was strong. Meanwhile, mainstream Democrats lacked a bold economic offer capable of motivating and mobilizing their own working class base.
The election of Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1979 dramatically shifted Britain from one of the most equal countries in Europe to one of the most unequal. Attacks on trade union rights, privatization, deregulation, demutualization, social security cuts and austerity reduced the amount working people received in wages and severely disempowered communities. This legacy lives on in today’s broken Britain.
In this context, it is essential we strengthen the debate around how we develop a more democratic economy. An economy where working people and communities have more ownership, control, and agency over their economic destinies.
At the centre of this is Community Wealth Building which has become a growing international movement in the UK, US, Australasia, South Korea and beyond. Community Wealth Building is even discussed amongst mainstream European Social Democrats as they explore how to win back their alienated core support in working class communities.
One constituent element of Community Wealth Building is how ‘anchor institutions’ can use their economic levers to develop resilient and inclusive local economies, with more local spend and fair employment, as well as support a larger, more diverse and democratic business base. Additionally, anchor institutions have vast amounts of land holdings, assets and investments which can benefit local economies and communities.
Reform UK now control 12 large councils which themselves are key anchor institutions with budgets and investments totalling billions, substantial land holdings and assets, and significant powers and influence. Each of these authorities can deliver real benefits for working people by implementing strong Community Wealth Building strategies.
A true localized ‘pro-worker’ agenda would see an audit of land and assets to deliver a step change in social and affordable housing, and democratically-owned clean energy for residents. It would see a push to insource services, including adult social care - notorious for paying less than the real living wage and a major local employer of women and minority communities. It would see a big increase in council procurement with locally owned businesses rather than distant corporations.
It would see the promotion of democratic banking alternatives, such as the North West Mutual, and an expansion of worker and employee-owned businesses. It would see more of the billions in local government pension funds invested directly in the areas this wealth originates from, and the adoption of Fair Work Charters to expand workers’ rights. It would see new municipally owned developments to build local resilience and publicly owned bus companies.
The key test of Reform’s supposed commitment to uplifting working people is whether they will or would adopt any of these measures.
The initial indicators are not promising, with attempts to bring DOGE-style taskforces to every Reform authority, without one word of criticism of the crippling austerity that has cut local authorities’ budgets to the bone since 2010.
This is further corroborated by Richard Tice’s aspiration to reduce government spending to 35% of GDP. Local government can also have a central role employing residents through targeted recruitment in areas of high deprivation and unemployment. Refusing to implement actions that materially improve working people’s conditions can never be described as a ‘pro worker’ agenda.
Across the UK numerous councils, mayors, devolved arrangements, and public institutions have adopted elements of Community Wealth Building, including many Labour-led authorities. Now, what is needed is Community Wealth Building to be brought to scale across many parts of the country. If done successfully this will genuinely take control of our local economies for working people and empower those pushing back against reactionary forces.
Matthew Brown is Senior Fellow for the Promotion of Community Wealth Building in the UK for The Democracy Collaborative
