Reform UK has secured its first defection from Labour after a councillor in Ashfield crossed the floor to the populist party.
Cathy Mason, who was the only Labour Councillor on Ashfield District Council, confirmed her defection on Friday.
Announcing her decision, Mason said: “I am personally disappointed that the Labour Party’s policies since the election have not helped people and going forward will not help the people of Ashfield.
“Residents are suffering and they need change. Reform is now the only party offering this.”
Nigel Farage
PA
Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, who has been on a similar journey from Labour to the Tories before finally ending up at Reform, added: This is a seismic moment for Reform UK, the first Labour councillor has defected to us today and it’s happened in the capital of common sense, Ashfield.
“Cathy will be the first of many to join Reform UK from Labour and she will be one of millions to leave Labour to vote for Reform UK at the next General Election. We are the only party that can beat Labour.”
Reform UK’s now has 55 councillors at the local level, including three from by-elections held last night.
The populist party emerged victorious in Essex and Kent, with the total number of by-election victories now hitting 10.
However, a majority of Reform UK’s Councillors have taken on the whip after defecting, most often from the Tories.
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Lee Anderson alongside Cathy Mason
LEE ANDERSON
Despite adding yet another Councillor to Reform UK’s haul, the populist party was dealt a hammer blow this week after Labour confirmed nine local elections would not go ahead as planned on May 1.
Speaking to GB News, Farage branded the move “absolutely monstrous” and told viewers that their vote has “been cancelled”.
Farage explained: “In May 2021, we had the English County Council elections. It was a Boris landslide.
“It was the high watermark of the Johnson Government. They even managed to win the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election on the same day.
“But now those four years have gone by and these people are due to have a vote again on the May 1.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela RaynerPA“And yet if you live in East Sussex or West Sussex or Essex or Thurrock or Hampshire or the Isle of Wight, or Norfolk or Suffolk or Surrey, if you’re one of the 5.5 million voters in those areas, by the way, nearly all Conservative controlled, your vote has been cancelled. You will not be voting on the May 1.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey echoed the concerns, labelling the decision a “stitch-up”.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner claimed that holding elections for bodies that were due to be scrapped would be “an expensive and irresponsible waste of taxpayers’ money”.
She told the House of Commons: “I’ve agreed to postpone local elections in East Sussex, and West Sussex, Essex, and Thurrock, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, and Norfolk, and Suffolk.
“I’ve also agreed for the postponement in Surrey, given the urgency of creating sustainable new unitary structures and to unlock devolution for this area.
“We are postponing elections for one year – from May 2025 to May 2026.”