Reform UK councillor quits Newcastle-under-Lyme seat two days after insisting she was staying
Christine Duffy says a leaked private letter and calls from national journalists have taken a toll on her health
A Reform UK borough councillor has resigned – just two days after insisting she was ‘committed’ to the role.
Christine Duffy has stood down as councillor for Town ward on Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, saying it is due to the impact of ‘recent events’ on her health.
Ms Duffy originally submitted a resignation letter on August 4, incorrectly handing it over to Kidsgrove Town Council, where she is not an elected member, but subsequently retracted her resignation.
The resignation letter, in which Ms Duffy complained about a lack of training for her role, was later published on social media by the Kidsgrove Independents political group, sparking a national media furore.
In a statement issued on Reform UK Newcastle-under-Lyme’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Ms Duffy said she was not resigning and that she remained ‘committed to representing the residents who elected me’. She also said she was ‘appalled’ that her private letter had been ‘exploited for party political purposes’.
But on Thursday, Ms Duffy submitted a second resignation letter to the borough council, which was received by chief executive Gordon Mole today.
In a statement posted on the Reform UK Newcastle-under-Lyme Facebook page, Ms Duffy said: “It is with deep regret that I have formally resigned, with immediate effect, as the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Councillor for Town ward.
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but recent events have taken a significant toll on my health and well-being. I have therefore reached the difficult conclusion that I must now put my health first.
“I have also been deeply upset by the way my privacy has been treated. A private letter I gave to the clerk of Kidsgrove Town Council subsequently found its way to the Kidsgrove Independents, while messages I understood to be private have also been shared publicly on social media. Whatever our political differences, I believed private correspondence and conversations would remain private. Seeing them shared publicly has been extremely distressing.”
“I have also received calls from national newspaper journalists despite my personal telephone number not being publicly available. I do not know how they obtained it, but I have found this deeply unsettling.
“I leave with enormous sadness, but I know this is the right decision for my health and well-being. I now simply ask that my privacy, and that of my family, is respected.”
A by-election for the vacant town seat will now be held. The other seat in Town ward is still held by Labour’s Sheelagh Casey-Hulme.
After Ms Duffy’s original resignation letter was delivered to Kidsgrove Town Council, it was forwarded to the borough council. But the borough council says that before Mr Mole received the letter, he had already been informed that Ms Duffy had withdrawn her resignation.
Mr Mole also said that he would seek an explanation for how the letter had been shared publicly by a third party.
Meanwhile, the Kidsgrove Independents have continued to ask questions about the withdrawn resignation, asking how Ms Duffy’s retraction could have been received before the letter was forwarded to the borough council.
The group said it had submitted a Freedom of Information request for the borough council’s communication logs to clarify the situation.
Ms Duffy was one of 27 Reform councillors elected in May as the party swept to power in Newcastle.
She had previously served as a Kidsgrove town councillor up to 2024. Her resignation subsequently led to former Stoke-on-Trent North MP and current borough council leader Jonathan Gullis being co-opted onto the town council.
Cllr Gullis said: “I am very sorry Christine has decided to stand down. Her health and well-being must now come first, and I hope everyone will respect her privacy.
“I want to thank Christine for her service to the residents of Town ward and for the contribution she has made to our new Reform UK-led administration.”
Kidsgrove Town Council clerk Nicola Antoney says that a copy of Ms Duffy’s original resignation letter, which was not in an envelope, was emailed to electoral services at the borough council after being delivered on 4 August. The letter was then put in an envelope and handed to a borough council officer. Ms Antoney says she does not know how the letter was leaked.
Ms Duffy’s resignation leaves Reform with 26 borough councillors. The Conservatives have 15 councillors and Labour have two.