Reform UK presided over its first full Kent County Council (KCC) meeting last week, with the new leader announcing a cut in councillor allowances and a special post for finding savings.
On a morning dominated by frequent applause and table thumping by Reform’s members, KCC’s new leader Linden Kemkaran said she regarded her new role as a “privilege”.
But she pledged to look at every area of spending at the authority with the creation of a department of local government efficiency (DOLGE) and proposed to cut member allowances by 5%.
New Reform Kent County Council leader includes councillor allowances in planned cuts, kentlive.news
Category: In The News
Reform councillor, Barry Martin, considers quitting because being a councillor is “dull and boring”
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
Reform’s phony war on ‘woke’
Three times Reform UK pledged to scrap schemes that don’t exist
Reform UK wants to scrap anything with even a hint of ‘woke’ about it. Now that they run 10 councils, they have their opportunity.
There’s just one problem: they keep targeting schemes that just don’t exist – at least not outside the imagination of the right wing press.
Reform’s phony war on ‘woke’, 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
Swinney accuses Reform of racism over Sarwar advert
Swinney accuses Reform of racism over Sarwar advert
First Minister John Swinney has accused Reform UK of a “racist attack” on Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Both the SNP and Labour have complained to Facebook’s parent company Meta about a Reform advert running on the site ahead of a South Lanarkshire by-election.
The video features text claiming Sarwar “will prioritise the Pakistani community”.
Reform has denied the video is racist and said it has no plans to take it down.
Swinney accuses Reform of racism over Sarwar advert, BBC
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
‘Disappointment’ over council’s all-male cabinet
The appointment of an all-male cabinet to Lancashire County Council by Reform UK has been described as “retrograde step” by opposition councillors.
The new group was unveiled at the council’s annual general meeting with all nine positions filled by men.
Gina Dowding of the Green Party said this was “disappointing” and the “first time since we moved to the cabinet system that there’s been no women at that top table”.
‘Disappointment’ over council’s all-male cabinet, BBC
‘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 councillors begin to quit
‘Embarrassing’ councillors
Nigel Farage hailed his party’s election success as proof that Reform had professionalised but, just a few weeks on, “the truth is beginning to emerge”, said The New European, “as newly-elected Reform councillors begin to quit, wasting tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money” on by-election costs for their replacements.
The New European via theweek.com
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
‘Regret’ as Newark Reform councillor steps down after only one week
Desmond Clarke said he is ‘unable to deliver’ what people need
A Nottinghamshire Reform councillor has stepped down only a week after he was elected as he felt he was ‘unable to deliver’ what people need. Desmond Clarke won his seat for Newark West on Nottinghamshire County Council only one week ago in the May 1 elections.
‘Regret’ as Newark Reform councillor steps down after only one week, nottinghampost.com
New Warwickshire councillor sorry after discovering he can’t represent Reform UK
A new Warwickshire county councillor has apologised for a “mistake” that means he will be unable to serve under the Reform UK banner for now.
Councillor Luke Shingler swept to a comfortable victory in Nuneaton’s Galley Common ward having been promoted as the Reform candidate until five days before the ballot.
He took to social media on the Saturday before the polls to tell residents he was not allowed to “run under a political organisation, party or movement due to my employment” but that it was too late to change ballot papers that linked him to Reform.
New Warwickshire councillor sorry after discovering he can’t represent Reform UK, warwickshireworld.com
Reform UK is a ‘cult’, says suspended councillor
A newly elected councillor who quit Reform UK after she was suspended over a social media post has described it as a “cult”, and accused the party’s leader Nigel Farage of treating its members with contempt.
Donna Edmunds, who was elected for Hodnet Ward in Shropshire, was suspended following a post on X about her plans to defect from the party after the local elections.
“I thought I was joining a party. It turned out I had joined a cult,” Edmunds said in a statement.
Reform UK is a ‘cult’, says suspended councillor, BBC
Reform won’t suspend councillor who shared Hitler meme during VE Day commemorations
Councillor Joel Tetlow appeared to compare the small boat crossings in the Channel to Hitler’s invasion of Europe in a post he has now deleted. He told Sky News he did not mean “any disrespect” to soldiers who fought in the two world wars.
Reform UK is not suspending a newly elected councillor who has been criticised for sharing a now-deleted Adolf Hitler meme on social media.
Councillor Joel Tetlow is under fire after he posted a picture of the Nazi leader on Facebook, overlooking a map of Europe with an apparent reference to small boats crossing the Channel.
A caption on the picture said: “Why don’t we invade them slowly? A few men at a time in small boats.”
Mr Tetlow, who was elected as county councillor for Accrington North on Lancashire County Council last week, then added: “Let’s be grateful this idea was never put to him. Or the world as we know it would be a whole lot different.”
After being approached by Sky News, Mr Tetlow deleted the post. It had been uploaded on Tuesday.
Reform won’t suspend councillor who shared Hitler meme during VE Day commemorations, Sky News
Reform UK councillor quits party with attack on Farage just days after election
The councillor had posted on social media about her plans to defect from Reform UK after the election
A newly elected councillor has quit Reform UK after she was suspended over a social media post just days after being elected.
Donna Edmunds, who was elected in Hodnet in Shropshire, was suspended for writing on X, formerly Twitter, that she was planning to defect from the party after the local elections.
Ms Edmunds on Sunday had written on the platform that she had been suspended from the party “pending an investigation”.
She had previously posted about waiting for the party’s ousted MP Rupert Lowe to set up a challenger party “and then I will defect”.
Reform UK councillor quits party with attack on Farage just days after election, Independent
Row breaks out over Reform banning Ukraine flags from flying above town halls
Reform UK will only allow the union jack, St George’s flag and county flags on council buildings
Reform UK will ban councils from flying Ukraine’s flag in support of the war-torn country, allowing only the union, county and St George’s flags on council buildings.
Councils across the country have flown the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
“No other flags will be permitted to be flown on its flagpoles, balconies, reception desks or council chamber walls,” chairman Zia Yusuf said.
As well as banning the Ukraine flag, Reform’s plan would prevent councils from displaying pride flags.
Row breaks out over Reform banning Ukraine flags from flying above town halls, Independent
Staff at Reform-controlled councils urged to join a union
Workers at Reform-controlled councils were urged to join a union today after Nigel Farage threatened to slash jobs and inflict a raft of Doge-style cuts.
Staff at Reform-controlled councils urged to join a union, morningstaronline.co.uk
New Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns vows to sack county council’s diversity officers – except there aren’t any
Dame Andrea Jenkyns has doubled down on Farage’s pledge to sack diversity officers in Lincolnshire but the county council has revealed it does not employ any
Andrea Jenkyns’ vow to get rid of council diversity officers as one of her first acts as the new Reform mayor for Lincolnshire has fallen flat after it emerged that the county council doesn’t employ any.
New Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns vows to sack county council’s diversity officers – except there aren’t any, Independent
Union leader warns Reform’s cuts and anti-net zero agenda poses risk to fire service
Firefighters’ union leader Steve Wright has warned that Reform’s electoral advances pose a risk to public safety, especially in areas where wildfires are an increasingly common occurrence.
The total area burnt by wildfires this year is already bigger than any year in over a decade. Wright said that the FBU would resist cuts from figures like Andrea Jenkyns, who this morning became Reform’s first metro mayor in Greater Lincolnshire.
Jenkyns has promised to launch a “Lincolnshire DOGE”, echoing Trump’s cuts agenda. She is also a member of the board of ‘Net Zero Watch’, which lobbies against action on climate change.
Union leader warns Reform’s cuts and anti-net zero agenda poses risk to fire service, fbu.org.uk
Reform UK criticised for candidates’ offensive posts
Reform UK is fielding local election candidates who have “posted hate, pushed far-right conspiracies and praised extremists” – despite Nigel Farage’s claim to have beefed up the party’s vetting process, campaign group Hope Not Hate has said.
Reform UK criticised for candidates’ offensive posts, BBC
Branch officers quit Reform UK over treatment of MP
All three branch officers of Reform UK in a constituency have resigned from the party in protest at the treatment of their local MP, Rupert Lowe.
The chairman, branch secretary and treasurer of the party in Great Yarmouth have all resigned their membership and say that with no officers the local party has effectively left Reform UK.
Mr Lowe, who currently sits as an Independent MP, has been suspended from the party while allegations of bullying are investigated, claims which he denies.
Branch officers quit Reform UK over treatment of MP, BBC
11 times Nigel Farage had a blazing row with his colleagues
Reform UK leader’s falling-out with a fellow MP is the latest in a long list of quarrels with allies.
Beefing with one colleague looks like an accident. Feuding with a stack of them looks like a habit.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been engaged in a bitter war of words with fellow MP Rupert Lowe in recent days — marking open warfare in an insurgent party that has been threatening Britain’s Labour government in the polls.
Lowe lost the party whip and was referred to the police in early March after he was accused of “threats of physical violence” and “inappropriate behavior.” He has strongly denied the allegations — threatening to sue the party — and is standing by strident criticism of the way Farage is running Reform, which he has aired publicly in recent days.
11 times Nigel Farage had a blazing row with his colleagues, politico.eu
Major law firm sacks Reform candidate after ‘I hate Islam’ tweet
Former HR executive made series of ‘offensive remarks’ in social media posts
A Reform UK candidate has been sacked by one of the world’s top law firms after he posted “I hate Islam” on social media.
Dan Cooper, a former “senior HR business partner” at law firm CMS, was axed after he was revealed to have made a series of tweets on controversial topics including Islam, transgender rights and the war in Ukraine.
Major law firm sacks Reform candidate after ‘I hate Islam’ tweet, Telegraph
Reform feud escalates as Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe trade public barbs
Richard Tice tries to calm party row in Sunday media round after pair attack each other in newspaper articles
The fierce clash at the top of Reform UK has escalated as Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe launched fresh attacks against each other and the party denied its suspension of Lowe was politically motivated.
Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, was dispatched to the Sunday media studios to try to calm the row that has engulfed the party less than two months before a pivotal set of local elections.
Tice said there was no connection between Lowe’s suspension from Reform on Friday and his criticism of Farage the day before.
Reform feud escalates as Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe trade public barbs, The Guardian
Reform MP Rupert Lowe hits back at party leadership after losing whip
MP accused of threatening party chair says dealing with leadership is like smashing his head against a brick wall
Rupert Lowe has compared dealing with the Reform party leadership to smashing his head against a brick wall amid a public war of words that has revealed deep tensions at the heart of the rightwing party.
Lowe posted a statement on X asking the party leader, Nigel Farage, to have dinner with him less than 24 hours after Lowe lost the Reform whip, having been accused of threatening the party chair, Zia Yusuf.
The party reported the Great Yarmouth MP to the police, and Scotland Yard said a complaint of “verbal threats” made on Thursday about an alleged incident last December was being assessed by officers.
In a post on Saturday morning, Lowe said: “I have been betrayed more times than I care to remember, but never by people I would have called friends. It’s not a very pleasant feeling, to be entirely honest …
Reform MP Rupert Lowe hits back at party leadership after losing whip, The Guardian
‘We all make mistakes’: Richard Tice defends Reform MP who assaulted ex-girlfriend as he rules out suspension
Richard Tice has said a Reform UK MP convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend 18 years ago will not be suspended and would pass the party’s new vetting process.
The deputy leader said James McMurdock was someone who had “got things wrong, learnt from it and has grown and succeeded”.
The former investment banker did not publicly disclose his conviction for assault before being elected, and claimed he had “pushed” his partner when details were first disclosed this summer.
However, The Times later obtained information about his sentencing from the courts, which said he was detained for 21 days in a young offender institution for kicking the victim “around four times” in 2006 when he was a teenager.
‘We all make mistakes’: Richard Tice defends Reform MP who assaulted ex-girlfriend as he rules out suspension, LBC
Ben Habib in scathing rant at Reform UK after being sacked as Deputy Leader: ‘Nigel CONTROLS the party!’
Former Deputy Leader of Reform UK, Ben Habib, has delivered a scathing verdict of the party after leader Nigel Farage replaced him with Richard Tice.
Writing in the Sunday Times after being fired from Reform UK, Habib expressed concern for the party’s leadership and claimed it “should not be controlled by one man”, Farage.
Ben Habib in scathing rant at Reform UK after being sacked as Deputy Leader: ‘Nigel CONTROLS the party!’, gbnews.com
Reform candidate quits and backs Tories – as Nigel Farage says some BNP supporters ‘gravitate’ to his party
Mr Farage addresses the controversy over a Reform canvasser who was caught making a racial slur about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in an undercover investigation.
A Reform UK candidate has disowned the party and is backing the Conservatives amid a row over racism.
Liam Booth-Isherwood, who was standing in the seat of Erewash, announced he was dropping out of the race and would instead be endorsing the Tory contender Maggie Throup to “stop Labour”.
He said he had become “increasingly disillusioned” with the behaviour of the party and accused leader Nigel Farage of not taking it seriously.
Reform candidate quits and backs Tories – as Nigel Farage says some BNP supporters ‘gravitate’ to his party, Sky News