Durham catching up with Kent on lost Reform councillors

Reform’s debut season in local government continues to go about as well as might have been expected. The competition among Reform-run local authorities to lose the most councillors is hotting up!

Currently in first place is Kent, Reform’s flagship English council, which has so far lost nine of its 57 councillors elected just last May to expulsions, suspensions and defections.

But hot on its heels is Durham, where the council’s deputy leader, former GB News man Darren Grimes, is currently embroiled in a row over leaders’ “belittling behaviour”. The Durham authority has now lost six councillors since last May’s elections.

Most recent to quit is Nick Brown, who resigned on Thursday afternoon saying its leaders “hold members of their own administration in very serious disdain”. He wrote in his resignation letter: “I have no doubt that Nigel and all of you would argue that loyalty is essential in a political party but I would reply that loyalty must be earned.

“I have spoken with a lot more people I would describe as ‘core Reform voters’ and every single one of them sees no change”.

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It comes as a freedom of information request released to the Daily Telegraph showed that the council had spent £18,297 dealing with complaints against Reform councillors in the past nine months, many of them against Grimes, the most public face of the council. Brown said he had filed a formal complaint over bullying against Grimes a week before he resigned.

The Telegraph quoted John Shuttleworth (an independent member of Durham Council, not the versatile singer-songwriter from Sheffield, South Yorkshire) as saying: “I’m not surprised by it. I’ve never seen such horrible, aggressive and nasty behaviour in my 29 years of being a councillor.”

For his part, Grimes has said: “Reform UK was elected to clean up Durham county council, not to maintain the status quo. Change of this scale naturally attracts resistance from those who benefited from the old, failing system.

“Regarding councillor Nick Brown, the party maintains the highest standards of performance. Where those standards are not met, a ‘spring clean’ is both necessary and inevitable to ensure our residents receive the representation they deserve.” What a charmer!

Meanwhile, over in Kent, where Reform came to power last year vowing to cut council tax… the council this week announced a 3.99% increase, one percentage point below the limit at which a referendum is required.

“History has been made today at Kent County Council,” cheered leader Linden Kemkaran on X. “Reform has passed a balanced budget and a council tax rise of just 3.99%. Well done team Reform,” she added, with a heart emoji. Does she think Kent residents have the memory of a goldfish?