The councillor who said yes to Warwickshire County Council flying the Pride flag said frustrated residents wanted elected officials to "get on with the job" during his straw poll on the matter.

Cllr Dale Keeling fields all requests to change any of the standard flags flown at the front of the county's Shire Hall headquarters in line with a policy brought in by the Reform UK administration that runs the council.

The Pride flag was routinely flown throughout June – Pride Month – at the discretion of chief executive Monica Fogarty before Cllr George Finch became interim, and subsequently permanent, leader last year.

With just days from the end of June 2025, Cllr Finch demanded that the Pride flag be taken down. Ms Fogarty refused and invited him to bring forward a policy, one that now sees the Union Jack, the St George's Cross and the county flag of Warwickshire flown at the front of Shire Hall.

More than 30 applications to fly the Pride flag or variations of it were rejected by former chair Cllr Ed Harris during his time as a Reform councillor with Cllr Keeling receiving a request from fellow Conservative Cllr Dean Richards on May 17 to do so throughout Pride month.

That request remained under consideration into June, prompting Cllr Richards and Tory colleagues Cllr Jan Matecki and Cllr Chris Mills to join Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors in submitting a request for an extraordinary full council meeting to discuss the matter.

That request went in on Thursday morning (June 4) and by Saturday morning (June 6), Cllr Keeling replied to say he was "minded to" put it up on the single flagpole at Old Shire Hall, Northgate Street, Warwick, around the corner from the main council building.

He also asked councillors to withdraw the request for a full council meeting, noting that governance staff were "under significant pressure" and that he did not wish to add to their workload "for a debate which will be divisive and have no bearing on the outcome of the request".

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The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Cllr Keeling whether the prospect of an extra full council meeting had forced his hand but he insisted: "It had no bearing on my decision whatsoever.

"I had already been in informal talks with various groups, including Warwickshire Pride. I wanted a proper, informal consultation which is what I did.

"I chatted to the leader of the council a few times, Warwickshire Pride and members of the public on market day to try to properly gauge opinion.

"There was a diversity of views, and that was mostly from the public.

"They didn't see it as an issue, they were concerned as to why we were talking about flags when we should be talking about council tax, SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) or libraries, things like that rather than flags."

He said the council had awaited advice from Warwick District Council on whether flying the Pride flag from Old Shire Hall, as opposed to Market Place which is in a conservation area, would create a planning issue and that the all-clear had not arrived until Friday afternoon (June 5).

Nevertheless, Cllr Keeling acknowledged that his decision "was always going to be a compromise to take into account everyone's position". He also stressed that it "would be unfair" to suggest Reform UK were alone in believing the Pride flag should not go up.

He estimated that he spoke to approximately 100 people ahead the decision, including private conversations with "quite a lot" of county council staff and with members of the public in Market Place, Warwick, for "a different perspective".

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"They were less interested in the debate on flags, they just wanted us to get on and act like professional politicians," he said of the public view.

Asked about the overall split of opinion, Cllr Keeling estimated that "a third of people wanted it, a third of people didn't and a third basically said just get on with your job".

"As chair I have to come up with an impartial decision that takes it all into account. I think I have done that," he added.

He declined to offer his own view on the Pride flag, explaining: "I said I would be impartial and I want to continue that way. I try not to let my personal opinion come into it."

It is the third request to fly an alternative flag that Cllr Keeling has approved having said yes to raising the Ukraine flag on the anniversary of the start of the conflict with Russia, and the Commonwealth flag on Commonwealth Day.

The Armed Forces flag is due to go up in recognition of Armed Forces Week from Monday, June 22 and Saturday, June 27, inclusive, an exception that is built into Warwickshire County Council's policy.