West Yorkshire Reform UK branch officers confirm decision to quit party
Local Reform officers for the branch covering Ossett & Denby Dale and Dewsbury & Batley are quitting over “continued bullying and divisive behaviour”
Five officers of a West Yorkshire Reform UK branch have confirmed they have resigned from their roles and quit the party with immediate effect.
Local officers for the branch covering Ossett & Denby Dale and Dewsbury & Batley said they had made a collective decision to stand down as their “objectives no longer align with the party’s current change of direction.”
In a resignation letter issued on Thursday (February 19), they also cited “continued bullying and divisive behaviour” and said there was a “lack of communication and support” within the party at a regional level.
The document was signed by branch chair Shaun Wilkinson, deputy chair Stephen Whyte, secretary Sheila Barton, treasurer Brian Gardiner and campaign manager Sandra Senior.
They also claimed they had been instructed by senior management to remove some ward candidates who had already been selected for the forthcoming local elections in May 7 and replace them with new candidates “who fit their agenda.”
The statement added: “This is extremely unfair for members who have worked hard since day one.
Mr Wilkson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had been the Ossett & Denby Dale chair for around for 14 months and there were now almost 2,000 branch members.
He added: “About four four months ago I started Dewsbury & Batley branch and we made it as one branch for two constituencies, because nobody wanted to do anything in Dewsbury and Batley.”
Mr Wilkinson said he had been allocated a place to contest Ossett ward on Wakefield Council but was then told he would have to move to a ward in Dewsbury or Batley, which is part of Kirklees Council.
He described the decision to begin replacing candidates as “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
He said: “People started leaving because they were sick of this happening.
“People who had been in the branch for a long time and had helped with canvassing were just booted out.”
In a statement, a Reform UK spokesperson said: “No complaints of bullying or racism have been submitted by these former officers, nor have any candidates been replaced by defectors in the areas covered by the Ossett & Denby Dale and Dewsbury & Batley branches.”