Fourth Reform UK councillor suspended from party days after local elections

On Monday, Farage's party announced that Ashley Monk and Jo Monk had become the third and fourth respective Reform UK councillors be suspended from the party after "bringing the party into disrepute".

In a statement, a Reform spokesperson said: “Cllrs Ashley Monk and Jo Monk have been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation after, respectively, bringing the party into disrepute, and refusing to accept the democratic decision of the Reform UK Group on Worcestershire County Council.”

Jo Monk had previously led Worcestershire County Council, with the party insisting she had been suspended for "refusing to accept the democratic decision of the Reform UK group".

It comes after Plymouth City Councillor Ben Rowe was also suspended on Monday for sharing a post on social media depicting a bomb being dropped on Mecca, has been suspended from the party just days after winning a seat on Plymouth City Council.

Monday also saw Essex County Council and for Rochford District Council councillor Stuart Prior resign from Reform despite denying any wrongdoing, with the party announcing his membership had been revoked over alleged racist posts.

All councillors were elected last week as Reform UK gained local election seats across the UK.

Read more: Reform UK councillor resigns just days after election

Read more: Arts chief hits back over claims he 'compared Reform voters to Nazi supporters' as he brands party's popularity 'a warning'

On Monday, Cllr Ashley Monk hit back at both Nigel Farage and fellow councillors following the suspension.

Writing in a statement, he said: "I’m done staying quiet" alleging other councillors had sent "threatening messages" in a WhatsApp group he has since been removed from.

"Following the appointment of Alan Amos as group leader, I’ve received screenshots from a WhatsApp group I’ve now been excluded from which are threatening messages towards myself, simply because I refused to support views that are completely incompatible with Reform and the people we represent."

He went on to make a series of allegations, insisting he was suspended for "refusing to compromise on basic values".

Hitting out at Nigel Farage, he added his suspension was also "for refusing to back someone whose track record shows jumping from party to party for personal gain."

Earlier in the day, Mr Rowe, who was elected a councillor in the Plymouth Ham ward last Thursday and won 1,649 votes, was "suspended from Reform UK pending investigation”.

Reform UK previously told LBC they were “thoroughly looking into his social media posts”, which have since been removed. The party also claims to maintain “some of the strongest vetting procedures in the country”.

Aside from the post depicting a bomb being dropped on Mecca, LBC has previously revealed a post shared by the now councillor depicting Patrick from SpongeBob as a Muslim with a child bride.

LBC asked Mr Rowe for a comment about the posts and was told he “will not comment on the matter,” but it’s been reported that he posted on Facebook to say the posts had been taken out of context and that he had shared them years ago – although it appears this post has also since been removed.

This news comes on the same day we’re hearing another new Reform UK councillor, Stuart Prior, has resigned.

He’d previously denied making racist posts, but a Reform UK source said on Monday he was resigning from his elected positions for personal reasons.

They went on to say they’d also revoked his Reform UK membership.

Mr Prior had been elected to the Rayleigh West division for Essex County Council and to Sweyne Park and Grange ward for Rochford District Council, both with about 40% of the vote.

Reform UK won control of Essex County Council from the Conservatives on Friday, winning 53 of the 78 seats up for election.

Meanwhile, in Plymouth, the party gained 14 seats – including Mr Rowe’s – moving them to the second largest group in the city.