Councillor's departure from Reform a mystery

Reform UK has declined to comment on why a Staffordshire councillor at the centre of a racism row is no longer in the party.

Chris Large was elected to become Staffordshire County Council's new leader last month, but quit a few days later due to a "family bereavement".

The Brewood councillor quit his role as the council's cabinet member for finance too, and is currently sitting as an independent councillor.

He had previously come under fire after allegedly racist activity was seen on a TikTok account bearing his name.

At the time, he denied responsibility for the activity, saying a number of people had access to the account, which has since been deleted.

Neither Large nor Reform UK have responded to requests to explain his departure from the group.

Large is the second Reform group leader at the county council to leave the party less than a year after its landslide election victory in Staffordshire.

Former council leader Ian Cooper was thrown out in December after Reform found that he had not declared social media accounts prior to the election.

An article by Hope Not Hate followed, claiming that Cooper had posted dozens of racist comment on X and YouTube, including offensive remarks aimed at Black and Asian public figures.

He resigned as council leader a few days after having his Reform membership revoked.

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