Dozens of councillors have left Reform over the past year. They tell us why

KWe are now the main opposition party,” said Nigel Farage, as his party won a string of victories in last year’s local elections in England.

Mr Farage claimed Reform England, which has existed in its current form since January 2021, had broken the dominance of Labor and the Conservatives, winning 677 council seats and taking over 10 councils, making deep inroads into the parties’ well-established centres.

After promises to scrap net zero, target wasteful spending and fix the potholes, the right-wing party appeared to have hit the right note with frustrated communities across the country.

But soon after the tables where the ballots would be counted were folded and the election campaign posters were taken down, the party began to take the reins of local government with budgets worth millions of pounds.

The incident began in the village of Hodnet, near Market Drayton in Shropshire, 160 miles from London; where Reform councilor Donna Edmunds was suspended over a social media post just days after the election.

One Statement published on XThe councilor, now an independent, said: “I have urged people here in

Shortly afterwards, Warwickshire councilor Luke Shingler began serving as an independent because his undisclosed “sensitive” way of working meant he could not represent a political party; Nottinghamshire councilor Desmond Clarke, meanwhile, resigned nine days after the local election due to “recent significant changes in personal circumstances” and was replaced by a Conservative candidate in the by-election, according to the local Reform branch.

In Durham, Reform county councilor Andrew Kilburn resigned a week after being elected for failing to declare that he was working in local government. He was replaced by the Liberal Democrat candidate in the subsequent by-election.

A month later, Daniel Taylor, 35, who won the Cliftonville ward in Kent, was suspended by the party following a police investigation that led to him being jailed for behaving in a controlling or coercive manner towards his wife.

Many more died in the following 12 months; The latest total was 68.

Accordingly Open Council Data UKOther parties were also affected by the defections. The number of Labor councilors in the UK has fallen by 289 (5 per cent) since 1 May 2025, while the number of Conservatives has fallen by 234 (5 per cent).

Although the total number of Reform councilors in the UK has increased by 22 per cent since last May, reaching 991 on 1 May, the number of councilors lost due to defection, resignation or ill health represents 9 per cent of the 810 members a year ago.

This highlights a party that has won councilors but is struggling to retain them.

Some claimed he was pushed because of his social media posts. Others said they left the party over concerns about leadership and who is managing local affairs. A small number of people have resigned from their councilor positions altogether due to health problems or work commitments.

Nowhere were there more Reform departures than Kent County Council, which is seen as Reform UK’s flagship council after winning 57 out of 81 seats. Ten of these councilors are either gone or have not represented Reform since last May.

Saddled with a £700m debt and an £84,000-a-day debt interest bill when Reform took over, the party’s leader, Linden Kemkaran, faced intense pressure to set an example of how the party could govern effectively – and all this appeared to be summed up in a leaked video from a party meeting in which Ms Kemkaran cursed and shouted at members.

‘It is no longer possible for real people to make a difference’

The first councilor to leave Reform on Kent County Council was Amelia Randall, who originally went to Ukip but is now an independent councillor.

he said Independent: “Leaving Reform UK was a difficult decision initially as I was torn between the great people within the party, the hard work I had put in to build my region and then the fact that Reform UK had lost its identity.

“It has become increasingly clear that reform is no longer about real people making a difference, it is all about building the Conservative 2.0 party.”

The reform highlights that despite the departures, other parties are also losing councillors, including Sevenoaks District Council, where there were nine resignations from the Tory party last May.

But as in Kent, where the number of Reform councilors fell from 57 to 47, the party’s influence weakened across several councils, such as from 28 to 22 in Cornwall and from 65 to 60 in Durham.

Now independent Durham councilor Nick Brown left Reform in February. “When we take control [of Durham Council]”I believed in Nigel Farage’s message that we would make big changes for local people,” he said. Independent.

“But in reality, whenever we had a local issue, we were told to toe the party line. Not to shake things up, to draw press attention to the council. We all became Nigel’s yes-men; we were ordered to be on our best behavior to help him come to power.”

The councilor, who wanted to fulfill the party’s promise to cut wasteful council spending, resigned before the meeting, saying he had been told to vote for a budget that would see a 3.1 per cent council tax increase. “We had a huge mandate for reform, but I haven’t seen any meaningful evidence of that.”

Andrew Husband, Reform’s leader on the council, hit back by describing the resignation letter as “the ramblings of a bad, sick man”. based on with Daily Telegraph.

It was the same in Worcestershire, where Reform councilor David Taylor announced live on air his decision to leave Reform over the authority’s plan to increase council tax by 9 per cent. “What will happen, they [residents] “I’ll pay more and get less,” the now-independent councilor told the BBC.

Doncaster councilor Nicola Brown said: Independent He left Reform because he was urged to vote for a £57 million loan to reopen Doncaster Sheffield airport without knowing all the facts.

Reform has since said it no longer supports the loan.

The councillor, who has since joined Advance UK, said: “I believe in the freedom to speak without fear or pressure on behalf of the people I represent. As a Reform councillor, your voice goes through a party media machine. As an Advance UK councillor, my voice is mine. And I will continue to use it for the benefit of those I represent.”

On: timeA Reform UK spokesman said they were disappointed by the decision to resign but the party remained committed to delivering on the promises made during the election.

Meanwhile, by contrast, Reform councilors appointed to senior positions in Cornwall felt they were under unmanageable pressure from members and Headquarters to deliver change.

‘Orders were being sent to us from above’

In the borough, where Reform is the largest party but did not have the majority to take full control at the last election, leader Rob Parsonage resigned in November, two days after his deputy Rowland O’Connor also resigned.

Bizarrely, he is now a Conservative councilor and last year he sacked a Conservative councilor to win the Reform seat.

he said Independent: “Them [Reform party members] “He wanted big changes but I always said, ‘Give it Christmas so we can get our feet under the table,’ and you have to remember we had no control over the decision-making,” he said, claiming he “jumped in before being pushed.”

He added: “We were being sent orders from above – they wanted us to vote everything against net zero and fight DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] – but it ended up being a conflict between the national agenda and the role of the councillor.”

Discontent was also evident in Warwickshire, which made headlines last year when Reform councilor George Finch became the youngest council leader in the UK at 19.

Mr Finch has had a turbulent start to his leadership, including a dispute with the council leader after he called for the removal of the Pride flag flying at the council centre.. He survived the confidence vote in March by just one vote.

Reform became the largest party in the council, taking 23 of the 57 seats in the council in the last local elections.

Among them were councilors Luke Cooper and Scott Cameron, who joined Restore Britain, a party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who left last year after falling out with Mr Farage.

Commander Cooper said he had fallen out with the party due to national issues. he said Independent: “With Restore, they have backtracked or shown they cannot be trusted by using malicious comments that show they are hypocrites on immigration [when compared to their own statements]to use the Conservative Parties that had a direct hand in the destruction of their previous parties and the current state of the country.”

Just before the couple left in February, Mr Finch said: “UK Reform in Warwickshire is here to serve residents, not get caught up in stunts designed to create headlines at the expense of local colleagues.”

Leaders in the Reform-controlled North Northamptonshire Council were also affected by the defections; Councilors Darren Rance and Jack Goncalvez initially left to run as independents before joining Restore Britain. Councilor Rance has since rejoined Reformation. According to the council member’s website.

Major Goncalvez shared on [last month’s] “Announcing the shadow cabinet taking over two senior positions of those responsible for bringing the scourge of mass migration to our country.”

Many of the councilors who left Reformation joined Restore Britain. Others went to the right-wing Advance UK party and the Conservatives.

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Dispersion among councilors is normal in any political party. Since 1 May Labor and the Conservatives have lost at least 259 and 230 councilors respectively through resignations, suspensions and departures.

“Meanwhile, Reform UK councils continue to deliver for local residents, delivering and identifying efficiency savings of over £700 million and delivering the lowest average council tax position of any political party in the country.”