A Bexhill county councillor has left Reform UK.

East Sussex Conservative group said Donald Walmsley, county councillor for Bexhill North, has joined the Conservatives.

Cllr Walmsley said: “Leaving an organisation you have worked hard to build is difficult, but I could no longer defend the direction the party was taking. Ultimately, this is a matter of conscience.

“I have always been a small-c conservative. I believe in personal responsibility, lower taxes, opportunity and competent government. Public money should be treated with care, and doing the right thing matters even when it is uncomfortable.

From left: Liam Atkins chair of the Bexhill and Battle Conservatives, Cllr Donald Walmsley and Cllr Paul Redstone. Image: Bexhill and Battle Conservatives

placeholder image — From left: Liam Atkins chair of the Bexhill and Battle Conservatives, Cllr Donald Walmsley and Cllr Paul Redstone. Image: Bexhill and Battle Conservatives

“I joined Reform because I felt the Conservative Party, the party of Margaret Thatcher, had lost its way. Under Kemi Badenoch, I see a leader confronting those mistakes and rebuilding around the principles I believe in.”

Cllr Walmsley said his decision to leave Reform UK had been partly prompted by the party’s response to undercover reporting by ITV in October, which showed some councillors and candidates using racist language.

He said: “The racist comments exposed by ITV’s undercover investigation were appalling. Reform announced investigations, but I found the leadership’s response wholly inadequate.”

Cllr Walmsley’s defection means there are now four Conservative councillors at East Sussex County Council. The rest is now made up of: 20 Reform; 10 Greens; 14 Liberal Democrats; and two independents.

Cllr Paul Redstone, who leads the county council’s Conservative group, welcomed the move.

He said: “Having got to know Donald and worked alongside him on the county council, we know that he shares our Conservative values and takes his responsibilities to residents seriously. He brings valuable experience from business and education, and a determination to make taxpayers’ money go further.”

Cllr Walmsley is the second East Sussex county councillor to leave Reform UK since last May’s elections.

He was preceded by Daniel Bradley, a district and county councillor for Rye, who resigned from the party in early October and now sits as an Independent.