Claim: Dozens of Reform UK councillors have already been expelled, suspended, resigned or defected since the May 2025 local elections

Verdict: ✅ True

Independent evidence from council records and verified local reporting shows that at least 41 Reform UK councillors elected in May 2025 have already left the party or been removed from its groups. Departures include expulsions, suspensions, resignations from office and councillors who now sit as independents or who have defected to other parties. This figure is supported by an independently maintained tally and multiple local news reports.
Note: The true total is likely higher than 41, as several councils have not yet published updated group membership lists and additional suspensions may not be public.

Last updated: 8 December 2025

Background

Reform UK made substantial gains at the 1 May 2025 local elections, winning 677 seats and ending with around 804 councillors nationwide. The scale and speed of this expansion brought immediate scrutiny of its candidate vetting and internal discipline processes.

In the months following the elections, councils across England — including Kent, Doncaster, Devon, Lancashire, Shropshire, Cornwall and Northamptonshire — reported a steady pattern of disciplinary action, expulsions, resignations and defections among Reform councillors.

How many councillors have gone?

Political analyst Mark Pack maintains the most complete independent record of confirmed Reform UK councillor departures. His ongoing research, based on council documentation and verified press reporting, identifies:

➡️ At least 41 councillors elected in May 2025 who no longer represent Reform UK.

These cases include:

  • councillors expelled by the party
  • councillors suspended pending investigation
  • councillors who resigned their seats
  • councillors who left to sit as independents
  • councillors who defected to other political parties

With Reform holding around 804 councillors after the May elections, the departure of 41 councillors indicates that roughly one in twenty has already left the party or lost the whip.

Names and what happened to each councillor

Below is the complete list of confirmed departures with a short description for each.

Expelled councillors

These councillors were formally expelled from Reform UK or had their membership revoked.

Kent (largest cluster of expulsions)

  • Brian Black – expelled after internal disciplinary action.
  • Robert Ford – expelled following internal disputes.
  • Bill Barrett – expelled from Reform’s Kent group.
  • Oliver Bradshaw – expelled following misconduct allegations.
  • Paul Thomas – expelled in the same round of disciplinary action.
  • Maxine Fothergill – suspended, then removed from the Reform group.

Northumberland

  • Nicole Brooke – suspended then expelled after internal investigation.
  • Patrick Lambert – suspended then expelled.
  • John Allen – suspended then expelled.

Devon

  • Ed Hill – expelled from Reform UK over conduct issues.

West Northamptonshire

  • Adam Smith – suspended then expelled following disciplinary findings.

Doncaster

  • Mark Broadhurst – expelled from Reform.
  • David Knight – expelled from Reform’s council group.

Lancashire

  • Tom Pickup – suspended then removed from Reform after extremist WhatsApp revelations.

Cornwall (removed from Reform group)

These councillors remained in office but were no longer recognised as Reform councillors:

  • Karen Knight – expelled from group, now independent.
  • Rob Parsonage – expelled from group, now independent.
  • Christine Parsonage – expelled from group, now independent.
  • Anna Thomason-Kenyon – expelled from group, now independent.

Staffordshire

  • Ian Cooper – membership revoked by Reform UK.

Suspended councillors

These councillors were suspended pending investigation.

  • Isabella Kemp (Kent) – suspended after internal conflict.
  • Daniel Taylor (Kent) – suspended following disciplinary complaints.
  • Paul Bean (Durham) – suspended by Reform group.
  • James Regan (Essex) – town councillor suspended over offensive comments.

Resigned councillors

These councillors resigned their council seats entirely.

  • Desmond Clarke (Nottinghamshire) – resigned as councillor.
  • Andrew Kilburn (Durham) – resigned as councillor.
  • Wayne Titley (Staffordshire) – resigned shortly after being elected.
  • John Bailey (Durham) – resigned his seat.
  • David Maclean (Isle of Wight) – resigned as councillor.
  • Robert Bloom (North Northamptonshire) – resigned after misconduct case.

Left Reform but remained in office (now independents)

These councillors stayed in office but no longer represent Reform UK.

  • Luke Shingler (Warwickshire) – now independent.
  • Gaynor Jean-Louis (Worcestershire) – now independent.
  • Rowland O’Connor (Cornwall) – now independent.
  • Karen Knight (Cornwall) – now independent (also expelled from group).
  • Rob Parsonage (Cornwall) – now independent (also expelled).
  • Christine Parsonage (Cornwall) – now independent (also expelled).
  • Anna Thomason-Kenyon (Cornwall) – now independent (also expelled).
  • Christopher Marriott (Doncaster) – left Reform, sits as independent.

Defected to other parties

  • Amelia Randall (Kent) – defected from Reform to UKIP.
  • James Buchan (Dartford) – defected to the Conservatives after winning a Reform seat.

Additional departures outside the May 2025 intake

  • Mark Whittington (South Kesteven) – left Reform shortly after joining the party.
  • Richard Everett (Tendring) – left Reform and is now listed as “Not In A Political Group”.

Conclusion

Independent records and verified reporting confirm that Reform UK has experienced an unusually high rate of councillor departures since the May 2025 elections.

  • At least 41 councillors elected in May have already left, been expelled, suspended or defected.
  • Additional councillors outside that intake have also departed.
  • The pace and scale of departures represent a significant challenge to Reform UK’s claims of strong, stable local representation.

Overall verdict: ✅ True.

Sources

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