Reform's sacked housing chief comes home

Nigel Farage has been losing his closest confidants with such regularity in recent months that it is easy to forget the demise of his housing spokesman Simon Dudley in April.

Dudley, the former chair of Homes England, was unceremoniously dumped from his role in Reform for making – in the words of Farage – “shocking” and “deeply inappropriate” comments about the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster.

In an interview with Inside Housing, Dudley said the deadly blaze, which led to the deaths of 72 people, was a “tragedy” but that “everyone dies in the end”. He claimed that rules introduced in the wake of the fire to improve safety standards were examples of “regulation which is not working”.

Suggested Reading

Is Farage really the man to lecture others on anti-Semitism?

Rats in a Sack

Cue Dudley’s sacking, just two months after taking on the role, with Farage claiming that Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader and multimillionaire property mogul, had “dealt with it”.

But it appears that Tice did not, in fact, deal with it.

At Reform’s conference last month, Tice hosted a cosy sit-down event with corporate delegates about the party’s new deregulation agenda for the housing market. And who was the person given the job of introducing Tice to the assembled bigwigs? Simon Dudley.

According to a transcript of Tice’s speech uncovered by the investigative website DeSmog, Reform’s deputy leader thanked Dudley for his “generous” remarks, and invited him to chair a Q&A afterwards.

Suggested Reading

What a tool! Reform councillor left exposed on live TV

Rats in a Sack

There was no shortage of gratitude from the seemingly un-sacked Dudley on social media, who said it was an “honour” to introduce Tice.

Dudley’s exact position in the party is not known, but he has not been shy about touting his continued relationship with Reform. His social media profiles – including his up-to-date LinkedIn CV and X accounts – continue to list him in a ‘Housing and Infrastructure’ role with the party. He is also a keen party activist who campaigned for Farage in this summer’s Clacton by-election.

When approached by DeSmog for comment, neither Reform nor Dudley denied that he is still involved in the party.