Reform councillor rejoins days after leaving party

A councillor has rejoined Reform UK just days after quitting the party to sit as an independent.

Nicola Brown, who represents Adwick & Carcroft on City of Doncaster Council, quit Reform UK last week and was listed as an independent councillor on Friday, the morning after a full council meeting.

But as of Monday, Brown is once again listed as a Reform UK councillor on the council's website.

It follows a week of turmoil for the Doncaster Reform UK group, which ended with the group leader, Councillor Guy Aston, stepping down from the role on Friday.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has approached Brown for a comment.

Aston was defeated by his own councillors in the chamber when he proposed removing Councillor Jason Charity as chair of two different council committees, including the Audit Committee.

He took the action after disagreements among Reform UK members when he released a joint statement with the Labour Mayor of Doncaster stating they were "in agreement" about the need to borrow £57m to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

In an email to his party colleagues announcing he was stepping down as leader, Aston said he had received "unpleasant, vitriolic texts that border on abuse" from people who were councillors in his own party.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North