Reform’s new year kicks off with a scandal

Trust and professionalism — these are the messages that Reform is attempting to convey so far this year. If only they were true. A scandal is brewing in Yorkshire, where the party hopes to make big gains in the May elections. Reform’s momentum in Sheffield East, perhaps its most active branch, has been checked by the sacking of its entire board, including the chair. Six in total have been suspended, four of whom have melodramatically been expelled “for life”. The treasurer has now resigned in protest, and the branch is decapitated.

“Truly disgraceful,” says a comment on the Sheffield East Facebook page. “Scandalous and unprofessional,” reads another. “A group of self-serving, ruling class opportunists,” says a third.

So what happened? We spoke to Mark Harrop, Reform’s ex-chair of Sheffield East, who accused the head office of undermining a busy branch that attracted up to 80 members per meeting. “We’ll prove we’ve done nothing wrong,” he insisted. 

Harrop was unwilling to go into full detail, as the Sheffield East Six are discussing legal action, however he did hint that they tried to “tweak” the candidate selection process. This could have been fatal. Reform has struggled in the last 18 months with picking normal candidates instead of ones who, among other things, support Vladimir Putin, Adolf Hitler and Jimmy Savile. The party is trying to avoid similar scandals this May by tightly controlling who gets to stand. Perhaps the Sheffield East team had their own ideas.

Harrop also referred to bitter internal disputes between him and a volunteer, calling this man “a rotten apple” and “a pain in my side”. Harrop’s leadership was apparently questioned — there was a mention of angry voice recordings shared — and it all sounds rather acrimonious. He did not want to explain further. Clearly there is much more going on here.

What is most embarrassing for Reform is that the leaders of a bustling branch have now defected to Advance UK, a splinter party set up by the property tycoon Ben Habib. They are not the first disgruntled ex-members of Reform to find a new home there. This week, the party announced six Derbyshire councillors previously in Reform had joined Advance. Among them is Alan Abernethy, mayor of Heanor & Loscoe Town Council, who left Reform after his vocal support of Tommy Robinson and posts about “Islamic dominance” came to light.

“We’re the people offering hope,” Nigel Farage said in a New Year’s Eve message. Reform’s sacked members of Sheffield East might see it differently.

And in other news… 

🏵️ Roger of York spread tattle in vain

While we’re on the subject of Yorkshire, we have learned that Reform’s regional organiser for God’s Own Country is a man named Roger Tattersall. He has been involved since the days of the Brexit Party, when he was campaign manager in the area. As we reported back in 2019, Tattersall shared far-right propaganda on his Twitter account, including a post from the British Nazi Mark Collett and the Canadian race scientist Stefan Molyneux. Yet another person offering hope!

Roger Tattersall aka Rog Tallbloke reposting Stefan Molyneux, a race science advocate

🎶 Keep Blazing

Dave Thomas, Reform Wales’s leader in Torfaen, used to be a happy hardcore DJ called Dowster. His songs don’t evoke the sun-drenched fields of the second summer of love so much as the rain-spattered alleyways frequented by public masturbators. “The Titty Song”, which he released in 2013, goes like this: “Ladies, let me see you bouncing/Grab your titties one by one/Shake them round, let’s have some fun.” His other songs are titled “Keep Blazing”, “Pussystomp”, “Cock & Balls”, and “Spack Attack”. Reform denies that Thomas created these songs, despite his name appearing on their Spotify and YouTube credits. 2025 was a tough year for Thomas. Not only were his old tunes uncovered, but he was forced to delete photos he posted online in which he claimed to “officially” open a Lidl in Cwmbran. Thomas had posed cutting a ribbon outside the store with a giant pair of scissors. Lidl said this was not an official event, and had arrived after the premises had opened. 2026 doesn’t look much better so far. This week, Thomas was removed from a community council role for repeatedly not showing up. There’s always 2027!

DJ Dowster, aka Cllr Dave Thomas, Reform’s leader of Torfaen in Wales

🤦‍♂️ A model, idiot

It’s hard to transition out of a career in male modelling, as Derek Zoolander found out. Andrew Husband, who once worked in Europe as a model, is now Reform’s leader of Durham County Council. He is also a businessman, and his unfortunate track record has now come to light. Two of his hospitality and equipment supply companies have been placed into administration, owing £1.5 million in tax, pay and government-backed Covid loans. Not a great look for a man trying to prove that he can run County Durham’s £1.5 billion budget efficiently.
Watch our video on Husband here.

💡Will the last person out please turn off the lamps

“Imagine a United Kingdom which instead of being ritually humiliated, celebrates triumph after triumph,” reads a rousing social media post by Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy. “One in which national pride radiates through the Kingdom because our people achieve astonishing feats in architecture… That is what Reform will deliver.” How’s that going? Let’s take a look at Canterbury, the only town in England that has a full set of bespoke 19th century cast iron street lamps. It’s a remarkable legacy of late Georgian architecture, and other than those found in Westminster and Edinburgh, is without comparison in this country. So why is Reform’s Kent County Council replacing them with steel structures that one heritage campaigner calls “grotesque disfigurements”? A council spokesperson says it is not economically viable to repair them, saying it would cost around £4,000 each. Reform’s leaders in Kent could have saved a lot of these beloved lamps had they not splashed around £50,000 of taxpayer cash hiring a party political advisor, Michael Hadwen, who said Enoch Powell was “right”. Money well spent!

🐽 I smell porkies

Bear with me here, but Mystic Marcus is a micropig with psychic powers. From his farm in Derbyshire, he makes predictions about world cup fixtures. How does he manage this? His owner Juliette Stevens says he is the “seventh piglet of a seventh piglet” and thus blessed with precognitive abilities. Juliette claims that Marcus, who once pooed on the floor of This Morning’s studio, has never been wrong. Hmm… outlandish claims? Questionable attachment to reality? Where else could Juliette fit into politics but Reform? She is representing the party at the Horsley by-election later this month. Marcus has yet to predict the results. 
Watch our video about this very special piggy.