‘That hit me right in the heart’ – Asylum hotel protesters move East Devon demonstration after discovering migrant women and kids had a ‘horrendous time getting from where they were to here’
An Exeter Reform UK councillor has quit the party and turned independent, after explaining to remain would ‘compromise my own principles’.
A Devon Reform UK politician has opted to quit the party and become an independent, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.
Councillor Angela Nash, who represents the Wonford & St Loyes division on Devon County Council, said she had informed Reform UK’s general secretary of her wish to exit the party and had also told council officials.
Angela Nash is now an independent councillor after leaving Reform UK Image: Devon County Council.
Cllr Nash said she would continue to represent her constituents as an independent councillor.
The move comes as Reform UK this week confirmed the permanent expulsion of Councillor Ed Hill from the party because of its view on his actions linked to two recent issues. Cllr Hill, who has stated he acted “in good faith”, represents his Pinhoe & Mincinglake ward as an independent member.
This means Reform UK now has 16 members on Devon County Council compared to the 18 seats it had secured after May’s local elections. It remains the largest opposition party, though.
Pictured here are Councillor Ed Hill (left) and Angie Nash, who helped encourage an East Devon asylum hotel protest to relocate to Exeter city centre. Photo: Ed Hill.
“My decision to resign has not been made lightly,” Cllr Nash said.
“Entering public life, I made a commitment to act with honesty, integrity and transparency.
“The Reform party claims to stand for fairness and accountability, but my experience has shown otherwise.
“To remain under the Exeter Reform banner would be to compromise my own principles, and the trust placed in me by the people I represent.
“My focus will remain on delivering for residents supporting our communities and ensuring their voices are heard.”
Cllr Nash was elected to her seat in the May poll with 950 votes, equivalent to 30.5 per cent of the votes cast in the division and 107 more than her nearest rival, the Conservative candidate Anne Margaret Jobson.
Cllr Michael Fife Cook (Yelverton Rural), who leads the Reform UK group on the county council, said he had been informed indirectly of Cllr Nash’s decision.
He suggested part of the rationale for her decision could have been prompted by upset various Reform members felt after the most recent full council meeting.
Michael Fife Cook, the leader of the Reform UK group at Devon County Council.
Photo: Bradley Gerrard/LDRS.
Liberal Democrat Syed Jusef (Barnstaple North) appeared to state the chamber would find out “who is racist and who is not” before a vote on his motion calling for a policy of zero tolerance to hate crime at the council.
The vote was being recorded, meaning that every member’s vote would be logged individually against their name, rather than the vote just being expressed as a simple majority for or against, as is more common.
Cllr Jusef did apologise to members in the chamber, stating he had said the word ‘respect’ not ‘racist’, but several Reform UK members left the chamber in protest before the vote could be taken, with some remaining and abstaining.
“It could be partially because of that,” Cllr Fife Cook said, “as Angie was upset by it and she wasn’t the only one.
“But I also think there could be some influence in terms of her decision from Ed Hill.”
Cllr Fife Cook said he had written to Cllr Nash to state that her decision to leave Reform could annoy some of those who voted for her.
“Some people will feel let down as people voted for Reform,” he said.
“People did not vote for us, they voted for a party they hoped would do better so we shouldn’t consider that we are the wonderful ones.
“If we step back from Reform and stay as councillors, that could annoy some people as it isn’t what they voted for.”
Councillor Nash’s biography on the Devon County Council website has changed to state that she is now an independent member.
