Councillor quits Reform UK to sit as independent

Reform UK has lost three councillors in Doncaster since the elections in May 2025

A councillor has chosen to leave Reform UK and will now sit as an independent, the party has said.

Christopher Marriott, councillor for Armthorpe in Doncaster, said he was leaving the party for personal reasons.

He is the second City of Doncaster councillor to leave Reform UK in recent weeks, after councillor David Knight was removed by party leadership on 24 September.

A Reform UK group spokesperson said Marriott had left the group voluntarily and that the party respected his decision.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Marriott had previously stepped back from committee roles ahead of a full council meeting in July.

He does not have membership of any council committees or outside bodies.

Marriott is the third member to leave Reform UK since the party swept to a council majority in May 2025.

Councillor Mark Broadhurst, who represents Hatfield ward, was stripped of the party whip in May 2025 over a series of social media posts deemed "inappropriate" by the leadership.

Those posts were later found to be "racist, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and highly offensive" by a panel of his councillor peers in September.

Knight was removed from the party after the establishment of Fly Doncaster (Auxiliary Services) Ltd.

The company proved controversial due to it sharing the first part of its name with the "arms length" company created by Doncaster Council to run Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA).

The business was founded with former Reform UK deputy leader, councillor Rachel Reed, who retained the whip but stepped down from her leadership role.

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