Sean Matthews
Chair of the County Councils Network, the lobby group for England's county authorities.
Sean Matthews, chair of the County Councils Network since September 2026, said its members were "relieved" when four county reorganisation decisions were withdrawn on 7 September; his own Lincolnshire council has sent a pre-action letter over the July decisions.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Sean Matthews
Mentioned in: McMahon drops four mergers on legal advice
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Sean Matthews leads Lincolnshire County Council for Reform UK and chairs the County Councils Network, the lobby group for England's county authorities. The network named him chair-elect in June 2026, to take over in September, and called him the first Reform UK chair of any national body representing local government.
He was first elected to Lincolnshire County Council in May 2025. He then served a year as the network's vice-chair before moving up.
The two posts put a Reform council leader at the head of the counties' collective voice while the government's reorganisation plans face legal challenge, with his own authority among those preparing to contest them.
Matthews speaks for counties facing abolition
Matthews took the chair of the County Councils Network in September 2026, just as the reorganisation programme began to come apart. When Jim McMahon withdrew the March decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk on 7 September on updated legal advice, Matthews said the network's members were "relieved".
He holds the issue from two sides. As network chair he speaks for county authorities across England, many of which face abolition. As Reform UK leader of Lincolnshire County Council he runs one of the councils that sent pre-action letters over the July decisions, which ministers paused rather than cancelled. For the July decisions, the Court Deadline falls in mid-October.