The Lead is keeping an eye on Reform UK and their fellow travellers. Get in touch on X, Bluesky and Instagram with tips and stories. We especially want to hear from readers whose local council is now run by Farage’s followers. You can receive ReformWatch direct each week by signing up on Substack to receive our newsletter.
Former Conservative MP and party chairman Sir Jake Berry, knighted by BoJo himself, has defected to Reform UK in an attempt to “challenge the old order”. Sir Jake backed Liz Truss, too, so he must be onto something with this one.
Sir Jake is the fourth former Conservative MP to switch to Reform in the last two weeks, after Sir David Jones, Ross Thomson and Anne Marie Morris, who was suspended for using the N-word in 2017.
The former Reform UK MP James McMurdock’s business affairs during the Covid pandemic have been referred to the Public Sector Fraud Authority. McMurdock suspended himself from the party last week after an investigation by The Sunday Times alleged two businesses connected to Mr McMurdock (one of which had no employees) took out Covid-19 loans totalling £70,000. Three days later, he resigned completely.
22-year-old Joseph Boam, deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council and chairman of the North West Leicester Reform branch, promised to prioritise flooding by, um, scrapping “Net STUPID Zero”.
Concerns have also been raised about Boam’s appointment as the cabinet member for social care. As our friends at Hope Not Hate reported, he has frequently shared support for Andrew Tate online, and on the same account, said that “depression isn’t real” (he has, of course, dismissed this as fake news). But the real worry stems from his lack of experience. Julia Ross, the chair of the British Association of Social Workers, said: “While we recognise and value the fresh perspectives that youth often brings, ideally, candidates should have experience in administrating such complex departments, as well as a working knowledge of their statutory duty to support what are often the most vulnerable people in our society.”
Despite constant controversies like the above, the party has relaxed its vetting rules, and is strongly encouraging candidates who previously failed vetting to reapply. Smart move, we reckon.
Finally, Reform literally couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery, as our sister title The Lancashire Lead pointed out last week. The party attempted to host a “summer bash” at Lancaster Brewery, but the venue quickly cancelled upon realising who had booked, leading to a wave of negative reviews and online comments. As one of our readers Graham pointed out, a similar thing happened in Norfolk. Redwell Brewing had initially agreed to host a BBQ for the Norwich branch of the party, but cancelled after receiving backlash from staff and customers. (Reminder: We’ll be closely following the new Reform administration in Lancashire with our dedicated title The Lancashire Lead. Make sure you subscribe to stay in the loop.)
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