Before his recent, rather hasty resignation, Reform’s head of policy (James “call me professor” Orr) told us the party didn’t have a magic wand to cure the country’s ills. And while their conjurer in chief struggles to conceal any number of apparently dodgy donations from an increasingly sceptical audience, his party’s local councillors have managed to pull off a genuine disappearing act.
Thanks to the assiduous cataloguing of Mark Pack and Best For Britain among others we know that over 140 have left the party since the elections of 2025. Of those 34 have resigned their seats entirely, forcing by-elections costing up to £27,000 a time. Chuck in the allowances these representatives have “earned” for their brief stints and we see that this transient commitment to Nigel’s cause has seen something like a million pounds of tax payer money disappear in a puff of light blue smoke.
Some of these councillors stepped down just days after their election with more than one appearing to take a quick look at what the role involved before deciding they just didn’t fancy it.
A few cited illness or family commitments. Others simply seemed uninterested, rarely bothering to show up at meetings and, in at least one case, not even sure about which council they had been elected to.
Multiple resignees were undone when the spectres of past racist, sexist or homophobic social media posts returned to haunt them. Some were even thrown out of Reform before they had a chance to resign. Perhaps, having made it through the vetting process, they somehow got the idea that voicing abhorrent opinions in public was actually party policy.
Leaving the cult
A slightly larger group of councillors simply left Farage’s Limited Company to sit as independents. Again, some of this lot have been forcibly removed from the party they were elected to represent, while others have left of their own accord. However, unlike their compatriots who stood down from the council, these folks demonstrated a stronger attachment to their expenses (I mean constituents) and simply swapped their blue tie for a beige one before re-taking their seat in the council chamber.
Along with several defectors to other parties, these ex-Reformers often cited the unpleasant or unprofessional behaviour of their former colleagues as reasons for leaving them behind. Everything from the “cult like” atmosphere of a “one man band” to outright sexism and bullying. In June this year councillor Lammas summed up this regret succinctly, calling his decision to join Reform “The biggest mistake of my life.”
It seems that many of these democrats had decided that they simply couldn’t bear spending any more time in the company of the sort of people that would choose to be Reform candidates; at least they now know how their family members feel at Christmas.
A couple of Reform representatives never even got a chance to resign, having been disqualified as councillors entirely. Daniel Taylor (Kent) was jailed for domestic abuse in February. John Allen (Hirst) initially had his Reform rosette confiscated after insisting he’d like to shoot Keir Stammer. He then continued to pocket his allowances for over a year before eventually being thrown out of Northumberland council for failing to attend any meetings. But he wasn’t finished there, and is now standing as an independent in the very by-election his dereliction of duty caused.
Where did they all go?
Destinations of ex-reform councillors since May 2025*
Political refugees are welcome here
Several councillors originally elected under Farage’s banner have later decided they’d prefer to follow a different leader.
Presumably, those who left to join the Tories found Nigel’s lot just too offensive while those who joined Restore thought they were not offensive enough. It seems it’s fine by them to be a political refugee.
When it comes to Rupert Lowe’s sub-section of the far right, it’s worth noting that outside of his home town, where they camouflage themselves as Great Yarmouth First for some reason, no constituency has actually elected a Restore candidate, every one of them has simply morphed out of Reform. Meanwhile, the even weirder sub-section once called Advance has officially been shut down, leaving the four ex Reform councillors who had shacked up with Ben Habib homeless again.
Then again, you have to admire the single mindedness of Amelia Randall (Kent) who left Reform to start her very own party called Balanced Britain current membership: Amelia Randall.
What you see isn’t what you get
So, it seems folks tempted to vote for a Reform candidate can’t be at all sure what they’re going to get or even how long they are going to get it for.
Their chosen one may be a misogynist, racist, homophobe. They might be electing a porn star or even worse, a secret conservative.
Perhaps that explains the new tactic that the party seems to have adopted in Middlesborough. Instead of pretending to be Reform and then leaving, two councillors who sit in the town hall as elected “independents” are in fact paid up members of Farage’s party.
With opinion polls showing a long overdue slide in his popularity and the police considering pressing charges, perhaps this is a sign that Nigel’s travelling magic show is no longer the hottest ticket in town.
*At time of writing; please check Best For Britain’s tracker for additions, there’s bound to be some.
