A Reform UK councillor has been charged with a string of offences, including 12 counts of rape.

George Madgwick, a councillor on Hampshire County Council, has been charged with 35 offences, including 12 counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault by penetration, two counts of making and one count of distributing indecent images of a child, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

He was charged with another count of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child and two counts of controlling and coercive behaviour. He also faces one charge each of stalking, threats to kill, false imprisonment, criminal damage and theft.

Madgwick has been suspended by Reform with immediate effect.

A spokesperson from the CPS said it had decided to prosecute the councillor for “serious sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape.”

“He has also been charged with making a threat to kill, false imprisonment and stalking,” the CPS spokesperson said. “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring the case to court.

“We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial. There should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings."

Madgwick will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on 25 November.

The charges follow a Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary investigation into allegations relating to four victims, who were between 16 and 17 at the time. The incidents allegedly took place between 2008-2021 in Portsmouth and Wales.

The force originally launched an investigation in July last year after receiving a report of a sexual offence. Officers arrested a man at an address in Wandsworth, London, in January this year.

Madgwick was the leader of the Reform UK Group on Hampshire County Council, first elected in 2021. He has served as the county councillor for North East Havant, representing Paulsgrove on Portsmouth City Council, and chaired the Corporate Services and Resources Select Committee.

Following the CPS’ announcement, Madgwick was suspended by Reform UK. A party spokesman said: “Cllr Madgwick has been suspended from Reform UK with immediate effect.”