In the six weeks that have passed since the 2025 local elections, Reform UK has somehow managed to lose nine of its newly elected councillors to resignations, suspensions and expulsions.
The reasons vary, but all contain a whiff of the incompetence and strife that has dogged the party throughout its history at the national and local level. The past year has seen the party switch from Tice to Farage as leader, eject Chairman Ben Habib for Zia Yusuf and the explosive departure of MP Rupert Lowe, as well as many less prominent figures leaving the party under a cloud.
The flakiness began even before the election had taken place. Despite standing for Reform UK, its candidate Donna Edmunds (Hodnet Division, Shropshire CC) – who received some criticism for her stated intention to put up a statue of Tommy Robinson in every British town -had already announced her intention to defect to whatever party Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib set up. The party suspended her one day after the election, prompting her to quit her membership shortly after.
Another councillor who got off to a flying start was the RAF employee & Reform UK candidate Luke Shingler (Galley Common, Warwickshire CC), who announced just prior to the election that he would have to sit as an Independent instead because military rules prohibit him from joining any political organisations. Possibly something he could have figured out before handing in his nomination papers?
A day later, it was Nottinghamshire’s Desmond Clarke (Newark West division, Notts CC) who discovered that he didn’t want to be a councillor after all, having apparently realised that he was “not in a position to represent the people of Newark West in the way they deserve, while at the same time continuing his career in social care, about which he is very passionate.”
Shingler wasn’t the only one who failed to do his homework: just five days later it was announced that Andrew Kilburn (Benfieldside Division, Durham CC) would have to quit the council altogether due to his employment with said council, which is prohibited. Hopefully his replacement will be better at reading the small print.
The next two to go reflected the party’s traditional failure of vetting its candidates for foul views. Wayne Titley (Eccleshall & Gnosall division, Staffs CC) was expelled after the Reform Party Exposed account unearthed Facebook posts calling for a “volley of gun fire” to sink small boats in the Channel.
Two weeks later Mark Broadhurst (Hatfield ward, Doncaster City Council) was expelled from the Reform UK group following HOPE not hate’s pre-election expose of his social media activity, which included a meme suggesting that Hitler would have been “a legend” if he’d chosen to exterminate Muslims instead of Jews. Ironically, though, his suspension was announced by new Doncaster Council leader Guy Aston, who had himself been exposed for having liked Facebook posts blaming the Rothschilds and other prominent Jewish families for mass immigration.
More mysterious is the case of Adam Smith (Hackleton & Roade ward, West Northants), who was suspended by the party 34 days after the election. The party has so far stayed tight-lipped about the reason, saying only that it was investigating “a number of concerns” about him.
Two more have joined this list in just the past week: first the news that a second Durham councillor, John Bailey (Easington & Shotton division, Durham CC) has quit his post altogether citing health reasons, and then the announcement that Daniel Taylor (Cliftonville division, Kent CC) has been suspended and had the whip removed “following a matter which is now with the police”
How many of the Class of ‘25 will still be in their seats when the 2029 Local Elections roll around? Stay tuned…
Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version. Harry Shukman Reform UK is staffed by oddballs and enigmas, but none odder…
