Sunday, May 11, 2025
Can Reform hold onto all their newly elected councillors?
It is no surprise therefore that already there have been one or two casualties. The BBC, for example reports that the newly-elected Reform councillor for Newark West, Desmond Clarke, has resigned from Nottinghamshire County Council following election on May 1st, triggering a by-election.
His resignation has been criticised by Conservative group leader and former council leader Sam Smith who said: "Seven days after fighting an election on a promise to cut spending and waste, the Reform County Councillor for Newark West has resigned which will result in the triggering of a by-election that will cost taxpayers thousands of pounds."
Meanwhile, Donna Edmunds, who was elected in Hodnet in Shropshire, has quit Reform UK after she was suspended over a social media post just days after being elected. As the Independent reports, she was suspended for writing on 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”.
When trying to quit the party, Ms Edmund found that her only option was to cancel the auto-renewal of her payment, so she technically will remain a member until the year is up.
But she launched a tirade against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, declaring that he “must never be prime minister” and is a “terrible leader”.
She said: “A good leader knows that you bring your team with you, that you champion their successes as the team’s successes.
“A bad leader claims personal credit for every win and stabs people in the back.”
Ms Edmunds also said she no longer has to “watch what I say” and so called for the jailed far right activist Tommy Robinson to be freed from jail, describing him as a “political prisoner”.
Her suspension and decision to quit the party just days after the local elections marks a chaotic start to Reform’s life as a party of government, having won control of ten councils as well as the mayoralties of Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire.
The party also came under fire on Monday for vowing to ban all flags from council buildings except the Union Jack and St George’s flag, meaning Ukraine and pride flags would be barred from being flown by public authorities. Reform was later forced to clarify that county flags would also be allowed.
It also came as The Independent revealed Reform mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns’ vow to get rid of council diversity officers as one of her first acts in Lincolnshire has fallen flat as the county council doesn’t employ any.
And it emerged the party offers home working despite having vowed to put an end to working from home in local authorities it controls.
It's popcorn season.
