08/06/2026
🎵 Another one bites the dust… 🎵
Just over a year after being elected as a Reform UK county councillor, Charlotte Kelly has become the latest to walk away from Nigel Farage’s party.
Kelly, who represents Leek Rural on Staffordshire County Council, has announced she’s defecting to the Conservatives, saying she feels the party is now her “natural home” and speaking openly about the difficulties she experienced as a Reform member.
The Conservative group says it offered her “friendship, support and encouragement” during her time in Reform. Make of that what you will. 😬
It’s another reminder that many of Reform’s election victories were built on candidates who were already Conservatives, ex-Conservatives, or people with very loose ties to Reform in the first place. And once the distraction of Reform’s internal squabbles began, turquoise suddenly looks a lot less appealing… 😳
A year on from Reform’s much-hyped local election breakthrough, the revolving door is still spinning. Councillors have resigned, been suspended, been expelled, quit politics altogether, or fallen out with the party that got them elected in record proportions.
And for a party that promised to replace the Conservatives, Reform seems to supply them with an increasing number of councillors due to their infighting... 👀