Reform UK would take right to vote away from Hartlepool Council defector
Hartlepool councillor Aaron Roy joined Reform UK but is not a UK citizen
If you were waiting for a mid-week edition of The Teesside Lead, then apologies. Sometimes life gets in the way. But what an event to come back to, with a Labour politician in Hartlepool defecting to Reform.
He becomes the fifth Reform councillor on the council, with only one of those fighting an election in May.
If you want to support my work as an independent journalist covering Teesworks and Tees Valley issues, it’s free to subscribe to The Teesside Lead. If you’re able to stretch, an annual sub is only £49.
If you have any stories, tip-offs or feedback, let me know. I’m not accountable to shareholders or advertisers, just you, the reader.
Get in touch at teesside@thelead.uk or via Bluesky.
Thanks as always for reading,
Leigh
A Hartlepool councillor has joined Reform UK, despite the party’s plans to take away his right to vote in general elections.
Cllr Aaron Roy resigned from the Labour Party this week. An Indian citizen, Cllr Roy moved to the UK in early 2020. As a commonwealth citizen with a UK visa, he has the right to vote and stand in UK elections. Earlier this month, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party would stop commonwealth citizens from voting in general elections.
He said: “Commonwealth voting was never really a problem until the age of mass immigration.
“It has now been impacting on our elections for a very, very long time.
“I do believe for national elections they should be voted in by British voters only... otherwise we get a really very, very perverse influence on our politics.”
Cllr Roy said the Labour administration’s increase of council tax in Hartlepool - despite a pledge to freeze it - was the main reason for leaving the party. It was not “an easy decision”, he said, “but it is one made on principle”.
Hartlepool Council raised council tax bills by 1.98 percent this month via the adult social care precept, while freezing the core council tax charge. In neighbouring County Durham, the Reform-led council has increased council tax by 1.99 percent this year.
The NHS nurse was revealed as a member of Reform UK on Thursday evening as Nigel Farage launched the party’s local election campaign in Sunderland.
On resigning from Labour, Cllr Roy said: “I will continue to serve the residents of Hartlepool, with integrity, accountability, and the courage to ask difficult questions when necessary.”
At the Reform event on Thursday evening, Cllr Roy said his ideology and values had “not changed”. “My commitment to the people of Hartlepool has not changed, what has changed is the platform through which I am continuing to do that work.”
Aaron Roy was elected as a Labour councillor representing the Hart ward in 2024, and is up for re-election in 2028. The other two councillors in Hart are Conservative John Leedham, and Reform UK’s Rob Darby.
He was elected at the same time as Labour councillor Quewone Bailey-Fleet, with the two becoming Hartlepool’s first minority ethnic councillors. After his defection, she was excoriating in her criticism.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Teesside Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.