Reform UK councillor 'stood down' from cabinet

Charles Whitford was the county council's cabinet member for highways, transport and waste

A Reform UK councillor has been temporarily stood down from his senior role on Leicestershire County Council.

In a statement on Thursday, leader Dan Harrison said Charles Whitford had been stood down from his role as cabinet member for highways, transport and waste.

Harrison did not say why the decision had been made, or how long Whitford had been stood down for.

Whitford, who represents the the Markfield, Desford and Thornton division on the council, declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

The BBC understands a complaint about Whitford was made to the council's monitoring officer in October, and that the matter was discussed at a meeting of the council member conduct panel behind closed doors on Monday.

Whitford was then not present at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Reform UK's press office said the issue was a matter for the council's party members locally. The council has also been contacted for comment.

Whitford becomes the third member to leave the council's cabinet since Reform took control at County Hall, as a minority administration, following May's local elections.

His portfolio has been transferred to Adam Tilbury, who already has responsibility for environment and flooding on the council's executive team.

Whitford's portfolio has been handed to a colleague

In October, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported Whitford had threatened to quit Reform UK, but then changed his mind.

The LDRS reported that Whitford had told a resident in an email that he would "step down" at a Reform group meeting of the council, but later distanced himself from the comments.

Whitford then told the LDRS he had "no intention of standing down" from either Reform UK or as a cabinet member.

The LDRS report detailed a number of complaints from residents in Markfield about Whitford's comments in relation to alleged aggressive behaviour around the erection of flags in their community.

In emails to a resident, the LDRS said Whitford claimed the people raising the flags were doing so to "reject" the "destruction of British values" amid an alleged "influx of soon to be millions of mainly Muslim men of fighting age".

The LDRS added that Whitford also claimed in the emails that immigrants were coming to make the UK a "Muslim state", leading to one of the residents accusing him of "whipping up hatred" with his words.

When asked about these comments, Whitford told the LDRS he did not "know what [we were] talking about".

He added he believed there was an effort to "discredit" him among opposition groups on the council.

When pressed on whether he denied making the comments altogether, he said he was not "denying or saying anything".

At the time, a Reform UK spokesman told the LDRS his understanding was that Whitford would not be resigning. He added the party was not looking to take any disciplinary action against him.