Defections from Reform in the North East of England

It's not all one-way traffic as far as Reform UK are concerned.

Jonathan Wallace writes on his blog:

Two of Reform's constituency chairmen in Gateshead constituencies have defected to Advance, the party that split from Reform and was created in the image of its founder Ben Habib.

According to an Advance news release, Damien Heslop, who was Reform's candidate in Gateshead Central and Whickham, as well as chair of Reform's constituency branch, has defected to Advance. He was the only Reform candidate in the local elections last year in Gateshead.

And in neighbouring Jarrow and Gateshead East constituency, the chairman Paul Milburn has upped sticks and defected to Advance as well.

So it's bye-bye Reform and hello Advance for Mr Heslop and Mr Milburn. They are not alone. The news release also lists three other Reform constituency chairmen in the North East who have jumped ship: Stephen Holt (South Shields), Gordon Fletcher (Cramlington and Killingworth) and Sam Woods-Brass (Houghton and Sunderland South).

Advance UK is a far-right party led by Ben Habib, who was deputy leader of Reform before he fell out with Nigel Farage – which everyone seems to do sooner or later.

As Jonathan says, its launch, or perhaps relaunch, is taking place somewhere in Newcastle on 27 September.