The by-election is expected to cost taxpayers £27,000
The deadline to register to vote in a by-election triggered by the resignation of a Reform UK councillor after just a fortnight is now looming. People in Eccleshall and Gnosall have a week to register to vote in next month’s Staffordshire County Council by-election which is costing taxpayers £27,000.
Former Eccleshall & Gnosall councillor Wayne Titley was one of 49 Reform candidates to be elected onto the council as the party secured a landslide victory on May 1.
But just two weeks later he resigned after coming under intense online criticism of social media posts attributed to him, including one which called for the Royal Navy to shoot at small boats in the English Channel.
Deadline looms to register to vote in £27k by-election after Reform councillor quits, www.stokesentinel.co.uk
Author: True Thinker
Newly-recruited Reform councillor under fire after voicemail message branded racist
A newly-recruited Reform councillor is under fire for comments made about the Pakistani community in a voicemail left to a journalist.
On Wednesday 18 June, Councillor Andrew Barry, who is a Reform councillor for Merthyr Tydfil Council, left a voicemail seemingly in error to an ITV Wales journalist.
In it, he is having a conversation with an unknown second person about the benefits system and housing. He goes on to say: “They’re putting the immigrants in the HMOs. They’re everywhere. The problem we’ve got, no one’s interested… (Inaudible)
[…]
Newly-recruited Reform councillor under fire after voicemail message branded racist, ITV
Reform UK councillor reported to police for potential election expenses breach
A REFORM UK member has been reported to police for potentially breaching election campaign spending limits.
Neil Stevens, who won the Alphington and Cowick seat in May’s Devon County Council elections by just 72 votes, has been reported by a fellow Reform UK councillor for the alleged overspend, and for a suspected false election expenses return submission.
Reform UK councillor reported to police for potential election expenses breach, www.creditoncourier.co.uk
Nigel Farage blames admin error for candidates praising Hitler
Reform UK leader blames botched vetting contract for slew of controversial candidates.
When your election candidates keep praising Hitler, something’s probably gone wrong.
Nigel Farage blamed failures by a “reputable vetting company” for a slew of controversies which have hit election candidates standing for his Reform UK party in recent weeks.
One praised Adolf Hitler as “brilliant,” said he was “able to inspire people to action,” and called Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine “legitimate.” Another said Britain “should have accepted Hitler’s offer of neutrality” in the run-up to the Second World War.
Nigel Farage blames admin error for candidates praising Hitler, www.politico.eu
Reform councillors ‘not invited’ to Miners’ Gala
Reform UK councillors have not been formally invited to the 139th Durham Miners’ Gala after taking control of the local authority.
Durham Miners Association (DMA) said the party had “chosen to criticise” the group publicly for its lack of invitation, but said it would not “abandon” its principles.
Reform councillors ‘not invited’ to Miners’ Gala, BBC
Resignations, Cancelled Meetings and Culture Wars: How Reform UK Councils Are Descending Into Chaos
Nigel Farage’s band of newly-elected councillors are already starting to struggle, reports Josiah Mortimer
After the election counts finished and the camera crews headed home, Reform UK councillors – over 800 of them now, running 12 councils – had to grapple with a new question: ‘What are we going to do now?’
Now that question is starting to be answered.
We’ve dug through local news coverage and talked to local constituents and opposition councillors on the ground to figure out what the new Reform councils have been up to. It’s not been smooth sailing, to say the least.
Across England there have been stories of cancelled meetings, suspensions, resignations, and more than a few culture wars.
Here’s just Reform’s local councillors have been getting up to since May 1st. It’s not been smooth running.
Resignations, Cancelled Meetings and Culture Wars: How Reform UK Councils Are Descending Into Chaos, Josiah Mortimer, bylinetimes.com
Reform UK raised even less in new funding than headline figures suggest
Low donations reflect leader Nigel Farage’s difficulty in capitalising on party’s political momentum and polling lead
Reform UK secured less than £1mn in new funding in the first quarter of this year, a smaller figure than previously known, as the party struggles to expand its donor base beyond a handful of longtime backers.
Headline figures for political donations suggested Reform pulled in close to £1.5mn in the first three months of 2025, but £613,000 of that figure reflected the conversion of historic loans into donations, the party said.
The loans were from Tisun Investments Limited, a company owned by Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader and one of its five MPs, who has for years been a primary funding source for the rightwing populist party.
Reform UK raised even less in new funding than headline figures suggest, Anna Gross and Cynthia O’Murchu in London, ft.com
Reform council brings in ‘British values’ flag rules
Leicestershire County Council’s new Reform leadership has scrapped the authority’s flag flying policy in its first cabinet meeting.
The move, approved at a meeting on Thursday, means a previously agreed schedule of flags to be displayed outside County Hall in Glenfield has been discontinued.
The list included flags to mark events celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Gypsy Roma and Traveller History Month and Windrush Day.
New Reform council leader Dan Harrison said the changes to flag flying protocols were “to celebrate British values that unite us all”.
Some staff groups at the council, where Reform formed a minority administration following May’s local elections, raised concerns about the move.
Harrison described the eight-minute cabinet meeting, which had only the flag flying policy on the agenda, as “historic”.
Reform council brings in ‘British values’ flag rules, BBC
Who’s funding Reform – and why?
Nigel Farage says his party is a break from the political establishment. That claim doesn’t match up with its donors
Reform has received almost £5m from wealthy donors since 2023, including those with links to fossil fuels, the financial services industry and tax havens, openDemocracy can reveal.
[…]
But what does the £4.8m of donations tell us about Reform’s aims, especially if it were to win office at the next general election? openDemocracy analysed the past 18 months of donations data to shed light on who is donating to the party – and where their interests lie.
Our findings reveal that, despite claiming to represent a break with the current political establishment, Reform is largely funded by ex-Tory donors, who account for around a quarter of the £4.8m it has received in large donations (only those who give £11,180 or more in a year need to be declared to the Electoral Commission) since 2023.
We also found that Reform has an unusually high number of overseas backers with links to tax havens, which the party has publicly stated is part of its fundraising strategy.
Who’s funding Reform – and why?, opendemocracy.net
Ex-Labour councillor who defected to Reform distances himself from ‘racist’ Anas Sarwar advert
Jamie McGuire – who joined Nigel Farage’s party last week – told the Holyrood Sources podcast he would have focussed the advert on the economy instead.
Ex-Labour councillor who defected to Reform distances himself from ‘racist’ Anas Sarwar advert, dailyrecord.co.uk
Merseyside Reform candidate removed as social media posts surface week before election
A Reform UK candidate has been expelled after “unacceptable” comments surfaced on social media. Reform UK confirmed it had removed Irene Davidson, who was due to stand as a candidate in the Blundellsands by-election taking place next Thursday, June 19.
In recent days posts on Ms Davidson’s X account had been re-shared on the social media platform by other users highlighting the language used in them. A spokesperson for Reform told the ECHO the social media account had not been disclosed to the party’s vetting team.
Merseyside Reform candidate removed as social media posts surface week before election, www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
Zia Yusuf announces return to Reform UK two days after quitting as chair
Zia Yusuf, who resigned as Reform UK chairman on Thursday, is to return to work for the party in a new role.
Yusuf will lead what the party calls its “Doge team” – which is modelled on the Department of Government Efficiency set up by US President Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Yusuf quit the party, saying working to get it elected was no longer “a good use of my time”, without expanding further.
Zia Yusuf announces return to Reform UK two days after quitting as chair, BBC
Zia Yusuf resigns as Reform UK chairman
Zia Yusuf has resigned as the chairman of Reform UK, saying working to get the party elected was no longer “a good use of my time”.
Zia Yusuf resigns as Reform UK chairman, BBC
Fiscal recklessness aside, it’s the super-rich who’ll benefit from Reform UK policies
Nigel Farage claimed last week to speak for the working class but he is still firmly wedded to the rightwing playbook
For a politician who has done more than most to shape Britain’s current challenges, nothing seems to stick to Nigel Farage. Not the chaos of the post-Brexit referendum years; or the contradiction of his closed-border English nationalism combined with a fondness for courting nomad capitalists from Malaysia to Mar-a-Lago.
[…]
However, something is lost in the argument about Farageonomics. Not only are the party’s numbers hardly better than scribblings on the back of one of its leader’s umpteen fag packets, but there is a more fundamental problem: his plans would not help the communities that Reform claims to champion.
Fiscal recklessness aside, it’s the super-rich who’ll benefit from Reform UK policies, Richard Partington, The Guardian
Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf says role is ‘no longer good use of my time’
Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf resigns from party
Senior figure in populist movement says role is ‘no longer good use of my time’
Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf has resigned from Nigel Farage’s populist party after criticising comments by one of its MPs about burkas, saying that he no longer believes the role is a “good use of my time”.
Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf resigns from party, ft.com
No time frame for Reform Doge review in Kent
Reform UK have warned their Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit “will take as long as it takes” to provide recommendations.
On Monday the Doge team arrived at Kent County Council (KCC) in Maidstone for their first meeting.
Party chairman Zia Yusuf met leader Linden Kemkaran along with senior staff, accompanied by millionaire party backer Arron Banks and Nathaniel Fried, a tech entrepreneur said to be leading the Doge unit.
The party plans to use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to “identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions”.
No time frame for Reform Doge review in Kent, BBC
Does reform not know how councils work that it threatens our privacy?
Kent County Councillor, Tim Prater of the Liberal Democrats, has roundly condemned Reform’s latest attempt to emulate Donald Trump.
In a letter to Kent County Council (KCC) signed by Linden Kemkaran (KCC leader for Reform), Nigel Farage, and Zia Yusuf, Reform have demanded access to all KCC data (even sensitive information about residents) for a group of unelected persons that Reform has chosen not to let the public know about.
Cllr Prater called it an “attack on Kent by Reform UK national leadership”.
This embarrassing, threatening and totally misjudged letter to Kent County Council tonight is an attack on Kent by Reform UK national leadership, countersigned by their new Kent leader who clearly doesn’t have a clue.
Anyone with the first understanding of how local Government has worked for the last 30 years knows the information they request is almost all public anyway. I suggest their highly expert DOGE team try “googling a bit”.
The rest is either subject to the same FOI constraints as apply to the public or other Councillors. To suggest there is top secret information here is nonsense on shifts, brought to you by people who have no understanding of how any public organisation in this country works. Mainly because they have never worked within local government in this country.
The irony that they have not released the “appended” list of “DOGE” representatives who should be given access to any data they imagine is interesting is not lost on us. They can ask for information on millions of Kent residents, thousands of Kent employees, but you won’t even tell us who they are?
The Lib Dems stand with Kent residents, and Kent County Council staff.
There is a process. That process includes the Council meetings your administration have cancelled at KCC over the next 3 weeks. They can ask for information in a public and democratically accountable way. You might not understand the process, but that’s your fault, not theirs.
DOGE in the USA just fell apart, having failed to find much of interest or actual saving, making a highly embarrassing series of blunders, some life threatening, and its leader Musk slamming the most recent Government bill and then quitting to spend more time with his failing business. To visit that pain on Kent is to hold us in contempt. We say no.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Tim Prater, via Facebook
Reform accused of ‘paralysing’ Kent Council amid spate of cancelled meetings
“This isn’t Reform. It’s paralysis.”
The Lib Dems have accused Reform UK of causing ‘paralysis’ at Kent Council, after the party cancelled multiple scrutiny meetings this month.
The Reform-run council held its first full county council meeting on 22 May, when it elected its new leader and appointed a cabinet. Since then, Reform has cancelled or postponed several scheduled committee meetings.
Nigel Farage’s party took 57 out of 81 Kent County Council seats at the local elections on 1 May.
Folkestone and Hythe Lib Dems said in a statement that Reform has also yet to confirm which, if any, scrutiny committees will be formed.
The statement said: “For the first three weeks of June, there were FIVE committee meetings timetabled. FOUR have been cancelled.”
Reform has cancelled committee meetings on topics including health, planning, and governance so far.
Reform accused of ‘paralysing’ Kent Council amid spate of cancelled meetings, leftfootforward.org
Reform’s Clean Energy Crackdown Would Cost 60,000 Jobs and Raise Bills, Says Study
Nigel Farage’s “economically illiterate” climate policies could wipe £92 billion off the UK economy, according to the New Economics Foundation.
Reform UK’s policies to “scrap net zero” would cost more than 60,000 jobs and wipe £92 billion off the UK economy, according to a new study.
Nigel Farage’s party — which took control of 10 councils in the recent local elections — this week claimed that the government could save £45 billion every year by ditching climate policies.
However, analysis by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) published today suggests that Reform’s policies would cost jobs and investment, and could raise household energy bills.
Reform’s Clean Energy Crackdown Would Cost 60,000 Jobs and Raise Bills, Says Study, desmog.com
Reform UK Campaigner Admits On BBC Question Time The Party’s Sums Don’t Add Up
A leading Reform UK campaigner has admitted that the party’s spending plans do not add up.
Tim Montgomerie, who left the Tories last December in a high-profile defection to Nigel Farage’s party, made the comment on BBC Question Time on Thursday night.
Reform UK Campaigner Admits On BBC Question Time The Party’s Sums Don’t Add Up, Yahoo News
Reform UK Chair Dismisses Worries About Cost of Tax, Spend Plans
The chair of Reform UK dismissed concerns that its plans to cut taxes and increase welfare benefits would rattle the bond market
Reform UK Chair Dismisses Worries About Cost of Tax, Spend Plans, Bloomberg (Paywall)
The cost of Reform UK’s anti-environmental policies
Reform UK has said it will scrap net zero and cut all renewable subsidies – the impact would be hugely damaging
[…]
Reform UK has said it will scrap net zero with various figures banded around by the party’s representatives for how much this will raise – anywhere from £225bn to £45bn. The Institute for Government, who’s analysis is used to calculate the larger of these two figures, has already said the Party has misrepresented its analysis and failed to acknowledge that most of this investment will come from the private sector – in other words, Reform UK’s policies would likely destroy much needed investment into the UK economy.
But what is the real cost of their anti-renewable and anti-net zero policies? It is important to ensure all political parties are accountable to the public and the impacts of their policies are estimated in a transparent and consistent manner.
The cost of Reform UK’s anti-environmental policies, New Economics Foundation
Reform expels councillor over ‘inappropriate’ posts
A city councillor in Doncaster has been expelled from Reform UK over historic social media posts deemed “unacceptable” by party leaders.
Mark Broadhurst, who had been in post for just four weeks, will sit as an independent councillor after the party’s decision to withdraw the whip on Thursday.
Councillor Guy Aston, Reform UK group leader, said the decision was a result of “inappropriate social media activity that does not reflect our values or standards: family, community, country.”
A Facebook page belonging to Broadhurst shared a post comparing black Islamic dress to “bin bags”, and a now-deleted image which suggested Adolf Hitler would have been a “legend” if he had targeted Muslims.
Reform expels councillor over ‘inappropriate’ posts, BBC
As Reform UK take official command of Warwickshire County Council tomorrow (Friday) no-one has the faintest notion how the party will run the authority
REFORM UK will take official command of Warwickshire County Council tomorrow (Friday) with no-one having the faintest notion of how the party will run the authority.
Although people have a rough idea of Reform’s policies at a national level, the party did not issue a manifesto for the county council elections on 1st May.
As Reform UK take official command of Warwickshire County Council tomorrow (Friday) no-one has the faintest notion how the party will run the authority, stratford-herald.com (Paywall)
BBC Debate Night row erupts over ‘racist’ Reform UK ad
A ROW erupted on BBC Debate Night over a “racist” political advert published by Reform UK.
Last week, Nigel Farage’s party was accused of “not so much a dog whistle as a foghorn” after it was found to have promoted an advert on Facebook and Instagram which claimed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar would “prioritise the Pakistani community”.
The quote, which Reform UK falsely attributed to Sarwar, included selected clips from a video which had been spread by far- and alt-right agitators on social media the previous month.
The National revealed how Reform UK have spent more than £10,000 promoting the advert online, despite sparking outrage from across the political spectrum.
BBC Debate Night row erupts over ‘racist’ Reform UK ad, thenational.scot
Farage defends Reform advert after racism claims
Nigel Farage has defended a controversial Reform UK advert about Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Both Labour and First Minister John Swinney have described the online video – posted ahead of a Holyrood by-election – as “blatantly racist”.
At a press conference in London, Farage played the video and accused Sarwar of introducing “sectarianism” into Scottish politics.
The Scottish Labour leader described the claims as “absolute nonsense”.
The Reform advert, posted on Facebook and Instagram, features clips of a 2022 speech Sarwar gave, external at an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence.
Farage defends Reform advert after racism claims, BBC
The economic fantasies of Reform UK
Nigel Farage’s fiscal arithmetic is as eye-catching as it is unserious.
[…]
That reality is the sticking point. Raising the tax threshold to £20,000 is estimated to cost between £50bn and £80bn all on its own. Reform claims to have found a cool £225bn down the back of the Treasury sofa by scrapping net zero and insists it could save more still by cutting funding to quangos. Good luck, as they say, with that.
But how successful will Reform’s opponents be at pointing this out? Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has been out and about, calling Farage’s plans “fantasy economics”, while Labour has gone for “fantasy promises”. Farage’s answer to this charge was that all parties fudge the figures in their manifestos, suggesting Reform’s creative accounting was par for the course. Against the general backdrop of disillusionment with the political establishment, the narrative will be that Reform are no worse than the other parties – and that official estimates should be viewed sceptically anyway.
One attack line might get through. “Trussonomics on steroids” was how the Liberal Democrats responded to Tuesday’s proposals.
The economic fantasies of Reform UK, New Statesman
Farage has shown absolutely no loyalty
Farage has shown absolutely no loyalty to hundreds of hard working party members across the country, who have dedicated themselves to building Reform up to be an election winning machine, on the contrary. he treats them with contempt, regularly casting them aside to be replaced by ‘yes men’ who are willing to display sycophantic loyalty.
Donna Edmunds (via BBC)
Ex-Reform councillor disliked having to watch what she says
Ms Edmunds also said she no longer has to “watch what I say” and so called for the jailed far right activist Tommy Robinson to be freed from jail, describing him as a “political prisoner”.
Donna Edmunds (Via BBC)
Meet Reform’s ‘regretters’: the councillors quitting just weeks into the job
Reasons range from dodgy social media posts to not being eligible to stand in the first place
Over 600 new Reform councillors were elected in the May 2025 local elections – and many seem to have been unprepared for it.
Reform is seeing an unusual number of councillors resigning in their first few weeks in office. In each case, this will trigger a council byelection costing in excess of £20,000.
Meet Reform’s ‘regretters’: the councillors quitting just weeks into the job, informuk.org
New Leicestershire Reform councillor was fired from police force
New Leicestershire Reform councillor was fired from police force
His actions were branded ‘deliberate’ and ‘for personal advantage’
A newly elected Leicestershire councillor was fired from his previous job with Leicestershire Police. Andrew Hamilton-Gray, one of the new county councillors for Loughborough, was sacked by the force in January 2024 following a misconduct hearing.
New Leicestershire Reform councillor was fired from police force, leicestermercury.co.uk
Reform scraps Derbyshire’s flood prevention work
Reform scraps Derbyshire’s climate change committee, prompting fears on flood prevention work
Derbyshire has been hit by numerous floods in recent years and this committee handled much of the work to mitigate future damage and assist residents and businesses
Reform has scrapped Derbyshire’s committee on climate change, biodiversity and carbon reduction, with fears this will directly impact flood prevention. In its first series of decisions with the keys to Derbyshire County Council, Reform UK has chosen to axe one of the authority’s scrutiny committees, formed four years ago by the Conservatives.
Reform scraps Derbyshire’s climate change committee, prompting fears on flood prevention work, derbytelegraph.co.uk
‘Posturing’: Farage’s Reform-quake so far limited to small acts of ‘war on woke’
Reform promised much to voters and now runs £8bn worth of public services. After three weeks, what has party accomplished?
When Nigel Farage held a victory lap of England after his mammoth local elections win on 1 May, he was characteristically bullish about Reform UK’s plan to shake up town halls.
[…]
Yet three weeks into power in nine of England’s cash-starved local authorities – where Reform UK now runs £8bn worth of public services – Farage’s “Reform-quake” has been limited to smaller but symbolic acts of the “war on woke”.
In Kent and Durham, councils with a combined £1bn of debt, one of Reform’s first acts was to take down the Ukrainian flag – hoisted to show solidarity with the war-besieged nation – and vowed not to fly rainbow-coloured flags in support of LGBTQ+ residents.
‘Posturing’: Farage’s Reform-quake so far limited to small acts of ‘war on woke’, The Guardian
New Reform council abolishes flood committee
A newly elected Reform UK council has abolished a flooding committee, despite other parties calling for it to be saved.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee was axed by the party which took control of the authority in this month’s elections.
New Reform council abolishes flood committee, BBC
Reform council leader defends by-election cost
The Reform UK leader of a council has accused other political parties of hypocrisy over their reaction to the cost of a by-election, after one of his councillors resigned.
Wayne Titley won the Eccleshall and Gnosall ward for Reform earlier in May but faced criticism over a social media post around immigration and stepped down.
His resignation means a by-election at an estimated £27,000 cost and the Conservative leader on the council called it a “waste of money”.
Reform council leader defends by-election cost, BBC
Reform councils pledge to scrap LTNs that don’t exist
All 10 council areas controlled by rightwing party tell the Guardian they have no low-traffic neighbourhoods
Reform UK’s pledge to remove all low-traffic neighbourhoods from the council areas it controls looks to be achieved in record time after the 10 local authorities said they do not actually have any in place.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s chair, said last week there would be a “large-scale reversal” of existing LTNs in the 10 areas across England where the party won control of the councils in local elections on 1 May.
“We view these schemes with the same suspicion as mass immigration and net zero,” Yusuf told the Telegraph, adding: “You can expect, if you live in a Reform council, for there to be a much higher bar for any proposals for LTNs and for the large-scale reversal of these existing LTNs.”
The Guardian contacted the councils now run by Reform – Derbyshire, Doncaster, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire – and they all said they had no such schemes.
Reform councils pledge to scrap LTNs – despite there being none in their areas, Tthe Guardian
Reform quizzed over councillor’s Facebook posts
Reform UK has refused to answer questions about a new Doncaster councillor whose Facebook account featured posts comparing black Islamic dress to bin bags.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) approached the party after a number of posts on a Facebook account belonging to Councillor Mark Broadhurst went viral along with calls to “suspend him”.
The LDRS had asked whether the posts – including a since deleted image which suggested Adolf Hitler would be a “legend” had he targeted people following Islam – were acceptable to the party.
A Reform UK spokesperson said the party would not be commenting on questions submitted by the LDRS.
Reform quizzed over councillor’s Facebook posts, BBC
Reform councillor quits two weeks after election
Reform councillor quits two weeks after election
A new Staffordshire County councillor has stepped down, just two weeks after being elected.
Wayne Titley won the Eccleshall and Gnosall division for Reform UK, beating the Conservative Jeremy Pert by just 27 votes.
However, he attracted criticism for a post on his Facebook account in March that called on the navy to intercept small boats attempting to reach Britain and use a “volley of gun fire aimed at sinking them”.
Reform councillor quits two weeks after election, BBC
Ineligible, inept and unspeakable
Reform UK Ltd’s councillors, are already proving they are unfit or unwilling to serve
A worrying, if not surprising, number of Reform UK Ltd’s new councillors have been accused of sharing extreme right-wing posts on their social media accounts. However, it’s not just the abhorrent racism, misogyny and links to cosplay fascists that Reform’s AI-based vetting procedure appears to have missed. While they were checking out potential representatives, maybe they should have asked them if they intended to hang around for longer than a couple of days after the election or even if they were actually allowed to be a councillor in the first place.
The Reform company, sorry party, has already seen four of their new cohort announce that they can’t or won’t represent them in the council chamber, decisions that in some cases will cost local government tens of thousands of pounds.
Ineligible, inept and unspeakable, yorkshirebylines.co.uk
Reform councillor resigns one week after election
A Reform UK councillor elected just over a week ago has resigned after failing to declare that he worked for the council.
Andrew Kilburn will no longer take up his role as a Durham county councillor for Benfieldside.
He was elected with 1,007 votes alongside fellow Reform candidate Sandra Grindle as the party gained both seats in the Benfieldside ward – one from Labour and one from an independent.
Reform councillor resigns one week after election, BBC
Reform UK accused of vetting failures after ‘extreme’ posts by new councillors uncovered
The social media posts have been described as racist, Islamophobic, and misogynistic – including a post by one elected councillor who “joked” about beating his wife.
[…]
The posts seen by LBC include:
Reform UK accused of vetting failures after ‘extreme’ posts by new councillors uncovered, LBC
- A Reform UK councillor “joking” about domestic abuse and racially stereotyping former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
- Another saying we should build fewer mosques because they “divide communities”.
- Others appearing to promote conspiracy theories that climate change is ‘geo-engineered’ and supporting far right figures including Tommy Robinson.
Reform UK councillors face allegations of sharing far-right and Islamophobic content
Up to 12 winning councillors under scrutiny with three accused of retweeting Britain First comments
Up to 12 newly elected Reform UK councillors are facing allegations of sharing social media content ranging from support for the far right to explicitly Islamophobic comments.
They include councillors at three different county councils who have shared social media content from Britain First, a far-right party known for staging provocative marches and stunts.
Reform UK councillors face allegations of sharing far-right and Islamophobic content, The Guardian