Three Reform councillors at Durham County Council have resigned from the party.
Sky News reports that councillors Lyndsey Fox and Paul Sexton have resigned from the party while a third councillor, who does not want to be named, has also left.
The resignations come after the broadcaster carried out an investigation into chaos and allegations of bullying at the council, which Reform gained control of in the 2025 local elections.
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In May last year, Reform won 65 of the 98 seats in Durham. However, since then, some 16 Reform councillors have left the party for various reasons.
Although some councillors have joined Reform in that time, the party is now not far from losing its majority on the council. Following the latest resignations, Reform holds 52 seats,
Fox told Sky’s Cathy Newman that she had resigned from Reform after the party failed to get back to her in regards to a “serious safeguarding issue” she had raised with the leadership in July.
She said others in Reform are “very, very upset and unhappy” but will not inform the party’s leaders at the council because they are “terrified”.
Last week, a Sky News investigation spoke to a number of councillors who had defected from Reform. This was following what they claimed was chaos within Reform, and allegations of bullying at the council.
Reform labelled the report “misleading a malicious,” with a spokesperson for the party saying: “Taking the opinions and testimonies of former Reform councillors who have been suspended for bullying and employing illegal workers as fact is not serious journalism.”
In response to Sky’s most recent reporting about the latest resignations, Richard Tice said he would be making a complaint to Ofcom.
He said Newman had “become an anti-Reform activist” and was “no longer a journalist.”
Once again, Reform throw their toys out the pram the moment they receive any sort of scrutiny.