Tory councillor defects to Reform after Farage plea

Well, well, well. Less than 24 hours after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote to Conservative councillors in a bid to persuade them to defect to his party, the first has defected. James McIvor, a councillor in Essex, has switched to the Farage-founded party – in a tweet that suggests more of his former colleagues will join him. How very curious…

Taking to Twitter today, McIvor declared:

It is an honour to represent my community and serve the people of Ontario and its beautiful surrounding Essex villages. In order to continue to do so to the highest standard, I’m delighted to announce I have joined Reform UK. It’s time to save Britain. I think I will be the first of many Reform councillors on Essex county council as we head towards the May 2025 elections!

Not that the ex-Tory comes without baggage. The Conservative party confirmed to the Express that McIvor was in fact expelled from the party at the start of the month following a disciplinary investigation – although Reform insist the councillor was a ‘victim of vicious Tory infighting’.