It was reported on 20 August that Ian Catchpole, who represents Sedgefield on Durham County Council had accused the Reform leaders of County Durham Council of treating the issue of mental health with what was described as “blatant disregard” as he resigned for membership of Reform.
In an email to the council, shared in a post on Facebook, Catchpole said that he was resigning the Reform whip with immediate effect.
Responding to this, a Reform spokesperson said That Catchpole’s resignation “came in the middle of an internal review into the unauthorised disclosure of private group material to individuals outside the party”, and that he had had the whip removed pending the outcome of the investigation.
It was also noted that all this comes as “the party said they were investigating the unauthorised disclosure of private group material”.
Cllr Catchpole was said to have commented: “This decision comes down to a hard red line regarding mental health and the leadership’s stance towards it”.
Looking into the issue
Looking a bit deeper into the issue, it has been argued that the disregard for mental health shown by Reform UK in County Durham, which has been said to be linked to the resignation by Councillor Ian Catchpole has highlighted a stark issue.
It is argued that Reform UK at County Durham Council has dismissed legitimate concerns about mental health and mental health policy as ‘woke’.
Councillor Emma Hunt, Chair of Standards and party lead for the Reform Association of Reform Councillors has commented:
“If you get insulted by being called woke, maybe stop being woke.” (on mental health).
Part of a trend
The resignation of Ian Catchpole is part of a national trend of Reform councillors either resigning from the party or resigning as councillors altogether.
Indeed it has been documented that as many as 35 Reform councillors have resigned as councillors in the three months or so since the May 2026 local elections. A further 28 Reform councillors, including Ian Catchpole are now no longer councillors under the Reform name.
Meanwhile in other news
As all this has been going on in County Durham, but north of the Tyne in Northumberland there has been more news regarding Reform.
It was reported on 20 August that a by-election had been triggered in the Hirst ward in Ashington, after Councillor John Allen had failed to attend a single council meeting for six months.
Allen was elected in May 2025 as a Reform UK councillor. However, Allen was expelled from Reform following allegations that he had made online comments stating that he wanted to shoot then-Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
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