A flagship Reform council has descended into chaos with accusations of police investigations, wine-drinking and vaping during meetings and an “epic screw-up”, The i Paper can reveal.

Nigel Farage’s party took control of Durham County Council in last May’s elections winning 65 of 98 seats. Among those to be elected was one of Reform’s star names, GB News commentator Darren Grimes.

The authority is one of the largest in England, responsible for more than half a million people and an annual budget of £1.3bn.

The meltdown has now reached the point that Councillor Kenny Hope, an Independent who was formerly Reform’s chief whip, intends to call for a vote of no confidence in Andrew Husband, the leader of the council, The i Paper understands.

“It’s terrible, it’s shambolic,” said Councillor Nick Brown, who also left Reform to become an Independent councillor earlier this year. “I don’t expect Husband to last out the year [as leader].”

Amanda Hopgood, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader, told The i Paper: “There’s too much time being focused on internal fighting in a public forum. My concern is that there’s still a council to run and services to deliver.”

Polling shows Reform UK’s popularity with voters remains high nationally, with the party a close second behind Labour according to the latest BMG Research poll for The i Paper conducted last month.

But reports of infighting have emerged at both a national and local level.

‘This behaviour brought chaos to our doors’

In Durham, a leaked email chain shows tensions have been growing over recent months following a series of accusations and counter-accusations between Reform members over the handling of a “standards” investigation into Councillor Paul Sexton.

A committee of councillors was asked to look into complaints Sexton bullied and harassed staff back when he was an Independent in 2021. He later joined Reform following the May 2025 elections.

Sexton was cleared on all complaints but The i Paper understands the committee wanted to take the matter further because they felt that in fact the wrongdoing was in reverse.

The councillors have accused Durham Council’s own officers – including chief executive John Hewitt – of “maladministration” for initiating the probe into Sexton in the first place.

Husband, in an email sent to Reform members last weekend, said that this had resulted in the council having to take “costly” legal advice which ultimately concluded the standards committee was in the wrong.

“As an administration we had to apologise for the behaviour of [the] standards [committee],” he added. “The party became involved and this behaviour was bringing chaos to our doors.”

Members ‘cracked open a bottle of wine’ during meeting

Husband’s opponents in the dispute, including former Reform councillors Kenny Hope, Kate Rowland and Nick Brown, reject his characterisation of events.

In a lengthy response sent to Husband and all Reform members on Monday night, Hope accused the leader of “working with” the council officers, including the chief executive John Hewitt, in order to suppress the complaints of members.

Hope said that Husband and his leadership team have not been taking complaints seriously, claiming that some members “cracked open a bottle of wine and one was vaping” during a meeting about the issue.

Husband told The i Paper that he doesn’t recall any wine being drunk during meetings, but added: “People can drink what they want on a Teams call between Reform members.”

Husband is also accused of dismissing concerns about the effect on those involved by saying “mental health is woke”.

His rival, Hope, wrote that he has taken his complaints to Reform UK’s headquarters at the national level but has had no response.

He added: “We have other issues that are extremely sensitive, including live police investigations involving Reform members. I will not provide information beyond that because it would be inappropriate to do so.

“However, the leadership has not, in my view, been forthright or honest with its members, and there appears to be an attempt to keep these matters under wraps.”

Husband made clear he believes the issue has now been dealt with and is encouraging other party members to move on.

“I won’t be wasting any more time on the matter, Reform won’t be either. It is an epic screw-up,” he wrote.

Responding to The i Paper, the council leader did not dispute the timeline of events and said that the 13 councillors that have quit Reform do “not understand public sector governance”.

He claimed Hope “wanted to destroy the management team based on subjective opinion from a legacy case in 2021”, referring to Sexton.

He said that there is no legislation to allow councillors on the standards committee to investigate officers as they wanted, adding: “I was not prepared to support a virtue signalling exercise about mental health. It would make us look woke.”

Commenting on the number of resignations from Reform in Durham, Husband said that “political scrutiny isn’t for everybody” and claimed that five of the members “have left the party in disgrace” without elaborating.

Regarding Brown’s comments he added: “The shambolic situation is nothing to do with Reform councillors. He should look in the mirror.”

A Reform UK Durham spokesman said: “It is no surprise that an Independent councillor who is clearly still aggrieved at his suspension from Reform UK three months ago after bringing the party into disrepute is making these wild allegations. The group has been much happier since he was ejected.

“Hope’s petty personal crusade of false accusations will not distract us from continuing to deliver the change that Durham residents voted for last year.”

It is also understood that Reform UK is not “aware” of any live police investigations involving members in Durham.

A spokesperson for Durham County Council said: “The meeting of the Standards Committee was held in private, and its decision was not made public. It would, therefore, not be appropriate for us to comment on the matter. Nor would we comment on matters relating to confidential complaints and allegations regarding officers or elected members.

“Should a councillor wish to make a complaint regarding any concerns they may have there are agreed mechanisms in place by which they can do so.

“We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance and conduct and to supporting all councillors in carrying out their roles effectively.”

Turmoil at Reform UK in Durham

Following the elections in May 2025, Reform UK had 65 of the 98 seats on Durham County Council.

Since then, 13 councillors have either stood down from the role, resigned or been expelled from the party for a variety of reasons:

• Andrew Harrison (resigned to become Independent, fell out with leadership)
• Ian Catchpole (resigned to become Independent, fell out with leadership)
• Kenny Hope (resigned to become Independent, fell out with leadership)
• Kate Rowland (resigned to become Independent, fell out with leadership)
• Andrew Kilburn (resigned from role, failed to declare council employment)
• John Bailey (resigned from role, ill health)
• Paul Bean (suspended over social media comments about asylum seekers, now joined Advance UK)
• Jack McGlenen (expelled over alleged drunken behaviour, now sits as Independent)
• David Cumming (resigned from role, work commitments)
• Michael Ramage (resigned to become Independent, no reason)
• Nick Brown (resigned to become Independent, fell out with leadership)
• Jasmine Fox (resigned to become Independent, no reason)
• Dawn Saunders (resigned to become Independent, now back with Reform)
• Paul Sexton, originally elected as an Independent, has since joined Reform UK, while Louise Penders was elected for the party in a by-election.