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