Reform UK Councillors Resign as Independents

Durham councillors Lyndsey Fox, Nicole Brown and Paul Sexton have resigned from Reform UK to sit as independents.

The three councillors cited 'safeguarding issues' and a 'group chat going wild' as reasons for their departure.

Fox confirmed she had reported a safeguarding issue on 14 July but had heard nothing since.

Sexton declined to comment on the matter, citing his own concerns about resigning from the party.

The BBC has made attempts to contact councillors Brown and Fox but they have yet to respond.

Reform's majority on Durham County Council has now slipped to four.

Three councillors who have resigned from Reform UK have 'conned' voters and 'betrayed' those who helped get them elected, the party has said.

Lyndsey Fox, Nicole Brown and Paul Sexton have had their party affiliation changed to independent on the Durham County Council website, external, although none has given precise reasons for their shift.

It leaves Reform with a small majority, with 51 councillors, on an authority the party emphatically won control of when grabbing 65 seats at last year's election.

Council leader Andrew Husband told the BBC that the three former members 'have let their residents down' but he offered no explanation for their departures.

Fox confirmed her departure from Reform to Cathy Newman on Sky News, external, on Tuesday. She had reported a 'very serious safeguarding issue' to the party on 14 July but 'had heard nothing' since.

Neither she nor Reform has given details on what the safeguarding issue was.

She made further allegations about a 'group chat going wild' and said she had been 'thinking about resigning for quite a long time'.

The BBC has also made attempts to contact councillors Brown, who represents Aycliffe South, and Fox but they have yet to respond.

The BBC asked Durham Reform a series of questions including what the safeguarding claims were, what reasons the three had given for resigning and what was being done to address the issue of councillors leaving the party.

In response, Husband said: 'These people have let their residents down. They have conned them using Reform colours and betrayed the many members who spent their time and money to help get them elected. '

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EXISTING ARTICLE (95 words / 6 paragraphs):
Durham councillors Lyndsey Fox, Nicole Brown and Paul Sexton have resigned from Reform UK to sit as independents.
The three councillors cited 'safeguarding issues' and a 'group chat going wild' as reasons for their departure.
Fox confirmed she had reported a safeguarding issue on 14 July but had heard