Leicestershire County Council (a local government authority in the English East Midlands), led by the right-wing Reform UK party, has voted to support the reintroduction of wild beavers as a natural flood defence measure, despite the party's national leadership rejecting large-scale rewilding. Cabinet member for environment Adam Tilbury cited the county's severe flooding problems and identified two potential release sites, while a fellow Reform councillor hailed the move as delivering "real solutions" through restored habitats. The decision highlights a growing rift within Reform UK, whose business spokesperson Richard Tice has clashed with nature campaigner Ben Goldsmith — whom party leader Nigel Farage had approached to help shape nature policy — over proposals to reintroduce animals and return farmland to nature.