Reform councillor quits, blames ‘sexism’ and ‘bullying’

Many have accused Reform politicians of having regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. They’ve accused them of this because Reform politicians have regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. And as such, it’s unsurprising the party attracts far fewer female candidates than its rivals.

In the latest example of the party not being the safest place for women (allegedly), a councillor from the 2025 intake has defected to the Tories:

Another Reform councillor has quit, citing bullying, sexism and misogyny within the party. And in Staffordshire alone we’ve also seen repeated racism controversies involving Reform representatives.

This isn’t a few bad apples. Reform is institutionally racist and misogynistic. https://t.co/3KwnKili5R

— Will Barnish (@WillBarnish365) June 8, 2026

“Natural home” in Reform…

The ex-Reform councillor in question is Charlotte Kelly of Leek Rural, Staffordshire. Rather than stepping down, she’s defected to the Conservative Party, of which she was previously a member. She’s now described herself as a “traditional Conservative”, and said that Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party is her “natural home”.

Of course, if this is true, it suggests she originally switched to Reform because she’d have a better chance of winning under their banner. She certainly wasn’t wrong to suspect this. In the 2025 locals, the Tories lost as many seats as Reform gained:

Speaking on her reasons for leaving, Kelly said:

Unfortunately, as a member of the Reform group I have experienced bullying and sexism on a regular basis.

Reform’s leadership has not been willing to deal with the issue and this has made it impossible for me to continue as a member of that group.

In response, Reform politicians made accusations of their own:

It comes as no surprise that councillor Kelly has left Reform UK. She has been a source of ongoing disharmony within the group and is currently subject to a formal complaint.

It is regrettable that she has chosen to defect to a party with a dire track record of mismanagement in Staffordshire – one that has driven the council into hundreds of millions of pounds of debt through reckless and uncontrolled spending.

According to the Stoke Sentinel, Kelly also lodged formal complaints – two in fact. Reportedly, she made these complaints two months ago, and is still waiting for action to be taken.

The Sentinel also reported that Kelly blamed ‘toxicity’ for her departure, and that:

a local party official ‘yelled and swore’ on multiple occasions, and her name was added to a lobbying letter against her wishes. She believes she was treated this way because she is a young woman, with most of her fellow party members being older men.

Not the first

As reported by the Guardian, Reform UK struggles to attract female candidates:

Reform UK has the smallest proportion of women on ballot papers in the local elections in England, at 23%. Labour is the closest to achieving gender parity, with 42% of its candidates women, followed by the Green party (41%), the Liberal Democrats (33%) and the Conservatives.

Reform also has issues holding on to female councillors.

On 3 March, Kathryn Shaw and Joanne Blythe of West Northamptonshire Council left the party to sit as independents. Blythe blamed ‘misogynistic undertones’; Shaw said the move was necessary to ‘more effectively advocate for strong safeguarding systems’.

It’s easy to see why Reform would attract sexists when you listen to its bigwigs. For an example of this, take no-fault divorce, which senior Reform politicians have discussed ending. Should this happen, women would once again find themselves trapped in abusive marriages because they can’t tick the correct box on a government check sheet.

'We need more prosperous families which lead to a more prosperous country.'

Reform's Richard Tice dodges @AndrewMarr9's question over whether reversing no-fault divorces is his party's policy. pic.twitter.com/9RpwHoFxU5

— LBC (@LBC) February 24, 2026

Farage himself has repeatedly demeaned female journalists in interviews. He was also accused of using the grooming gangs scandal for political capital – and accused by the victims themselves, no less. These same women demanded an apology from Farage after he lied about their situation.

Oh, and there’s also this:

A man is judged by the company he keeps. pic.twitter.com/vOZLwzKTje

— Reform Party UK Exposed 🇬🇧 (@reformexposed) October 28, 2025

A sign of things to come

It’s obviously completely inappropriate for men to belittle, bully, or harass their female colleagues. Such attitudes could become far more normalised if Reform takes power, however, and we get a government which is three quarters male, pale, and racist.

Before even taking power, Reform is threatening to tear up the Equality Act. The party claims this won’t lead to women losing the hard-won rights they enjoy today. Personally, however, we would advise women to take a long, hard look at Reform UK’s record before trusting them on this.

Featured image via Finnbarr Webster (Getty Images)