When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall | Reform UK

“I Nigel Farage told an enthusiastic crowd of hundreds at an entertainment center in Redruth: “UK Reformation will become a dominant force not just in Cornwall politics, but in British politics.”

That was in February, and when the local elections came three months later, Farage’s prophecy was partly true: Reform won the highest number of seats of any party on Cornwall council, with 28 seats.

But in his speech at the Carn Brea leisure centre, Farage also warned his enthusiastic supporters that “we must turn theory into reality” – and now the reality in Cornwall is hurting.

Six months after local elections – with Reform failing to govern and the Liberal Democrats and independents needing to form a ruling coalition – the party’s presence in the borough is in disarray following weeks of resignations, suspensions and infighting; This means that Reform UK no longer has the highest number of seats in the authority.

Critics say the chaos in the Reform-led City council, as well as the salacious scenes in Cornwall, where Reform acts as the official opposition, is further evidence that the party is unable to deliver anything beyond a protest vote.

Two key figures involved in the debacle, the former leader and deputy leader of the Reform group in Cornwall, said that interference from national figures in the party was partly behind the decisions to stand down, and that some infighting that had damaged Reform’s reputation was also to blame.

Rowland O’Connor, a veteran of the party that won 16.5% of the vote in North Cornwall in last year’s general election, was the first to withdraw, resigning not only as an MP but also from Reform in early October.

“I have made a commitment to the people in my division to serve as a local councilor and represent their best interests on all matters relating to council services: buses, transport, roads, fences, pits, bins, everything you would expect a council to be involved in,” said O’Connor, who represents the St Columb Major, St Mawgan and St Wenn ward.

“But the position I found myself in, as deputy leader and also as a member of the UK Reform Council, was to emphasize the right to a national agenda.”

O’Connor said Reform UK’s two key proposals at the national level were to challenge immigration and net zero. “The direct impact of immigration in Cornwall is negligible,” he said. He added that on net zero, Reform councilors on planning committees, like all councillors, must be apolitical in their decision-making processes.

“There was an ongoing disparity between the time I could devote to serving the residents of my department and trying to resolve the conflict between national and local.”

Two days later, Reform’s leader in Cornwall, Rob Parsonage, also resigned from the party. Parsonage, who represents Torpoint, said that as leader he would receive “instructions” via WhatsApp from “head office”, ordering them to “take action to scrap all matters related to the net zero target”.

“The problem with this is that you have to go there with an open mind and with the intention of assessing a planning application on its merits, on the regulations and on the law,” Parsonage added. “So effectively you’re being asked to do something you’re not allowed to do.”

O’Connor and Parsonage formed the Cornish Independent Non-Aligned Group with two other former Reform councillors, Anna Thomason-Kenyon and Karen Knight.

Parsonage’s wife, Christine Parsonage, who was elected as a Reform councilor for St Columb Minor and Colan, resigned for health reasons at the end of last month. But his brief time as a councilor was mired in controversy after it was revealed he lived more than 40 miles from his ward in Torpoint.

He was heavily criticized by Newquay councilors in August for not attending their meetings as the Cornwall council representative for the area he represents. Later accepted as “candidate on paper” – a candidate who does not realistically expect to be elected.

The five departures mean Reform now has 23 seats on Cornwall council, having previously held 28 seats compared to the Liberal Democrats’ 26 seats.

Prior to the departure of Rob Parsonage and O’Connor, the former had faced criticism within his own party. Curtis Mellows, then president of the Reform Cornwall south-east branch, did not hold back in his criticism of the Vicarage online, calling him a “disgusting little man”.

“He has no leadership qualities whatsoever,” Mellows said. “He’s trying to show that he has experience in politics. He’s proven that he actually doesn’t. I told head office that this man shouldn’t be there and it would be a disaster – and you saw what happened in the southwest.”

In another development, Mellows herself was suspended from the party after making allegedly offensive comments about Prince Harry in a social media post.

Mellows said he had made formal bullying complaints about party members in the area, but these had not been addressed by regional or national figures. “I did not allow the bullying to subside and continued to pursue it,” she said. “Obviously they decided to get rid of me, and that’s okay too.”

Although a new leader and deputy leader were elected for the reform group, internal conflicts continue.

Just this week the chairman of the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle branches was sacked, to the dismay of branch members.

The fact that the chairman who was removed from the branch against the wishes of his members was and remains the party’s newly appointed MP for Cornwall, Roger Tarrant, further muddies the waters.

Branch members briefing anonymously local pressHe complained that “our popular and successful previous president was impeached and parachuted to an unknown location.”

As reform continues to unravel, how are the parties in power responding? Leigh Frost, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cornwall Council, said: “It’s quite surprising. In fact everyone knew it was coming eventually. It’s no surprise.”

“We had a lot of Reform candidates in the local elections in May. A lot of these people were elected in a wave and now they understand what it’s like to be a councillor, what it means to be a councillor.”

“Ultimately some realize it’s too hard and they don’t want to do it, and that’s entirely up to them.

“Others are realizing there is more and they want to do a good job for their community, which is great, and they’re kind of realizing that Reformation is not the answer to that problem.”

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “These allegations are untrue. Reform UK councilors have full autonomy to take a stand on local issues and are encouraged to find solutions to improve their communities.”

“But voters are right to expect elected Reform UK representatives to remember the platform on which they were elected, which included opposing the net zero agenda and ensuring taxpayer funds are spent on local people, not illegal immigrants.”

Paul Ashton, the newly appointed Reform leader in Cornwall, has also rejected comments that local councilors should focus on national Reform policies such as immigration and net zero rather than prioritizing key issues affecting Cornish voters such as affordable housing and utilities.