Reform UK 'not invited' to historic Durham Miners' Gala, despite winning council landslide

19 May 2025, 10:40 | Updated: 19 May 2025, 13:52

By Henry Riley

@HenryRiley1

LBC has been told that both Nigel Farage and Reform UK Durham councillors will “never, ever, ever” be invited to the Durham Miners' Gala.

The General Secretary of the Durham Miners' Association (DMA) has launched a scathing attack on Reform UK, saying that the party will “never” be invited to the historic event, and that he would boycott the event if they were asked to attend.

Despite winning control of Durham County Council by a landslide and making huge gains across swathes of England, the 139th Durham Miners' Gala will not have any Reform UK politician personally invited.

The event, which dates back to 1871, will take place on the 12th July and has been described as the “biggest working class demonstration and event in the world”.

Nigel Farage’s party won 65 of the 98 council seats on the local authority this month, but the General Secretary insists he “wouldn't share a platform with any of them”.

Alan Mardghum, who has led the group since 2019, told LBC: “Nigel Farage will never, ever, ever be invited” to the Gala. He added he: "Wouldn't get a good reception”.

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Andrew Husband is likely to be approved as Reform's council leader in Durham next week, alongside his deputy Cllr Darren Grimes. However they also will not be invited, despite previous council leaders being welcomed because they “share our values”.

Mr Grimes, a former GB News presenter, has called the decision "a slap in the face to the working-class people of Durham".

Mr Mardghum, a former miner who worked at Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland, said if his group “ever contemplated" inviting Reform, he would boycott it.

He described the Gala as “being a war, an act of defiance and resistance to the pain of successive government policies impacting the mining community.”

Speaking to LBC, he called the event “one of joy, love and compassion”, and that “everybody will be welcome with open arms”, but added: “I wouldn't share a platform with any of them. There's no way, no way they'll ever get an invite from Durham Miners' Association”.

Reform UK have been criticised in the city after one elected councillor was forced to resign after failing to declare that he worked for the council. Andrew Kilburn gained a seat from Labour but there will now be a by-election.

In April the DMA published a message for members urging them not to vote for Farage's party.

It read: "Reform are not on your side."

They listed seven reasons that Farage's track record "does not make pleasant reading for workers"

They included the Reform UK leader's opposition to taxing 'very rich corporations', backing 'tax cuts for the wealthiest in society' and his support for replacing our state-funded NHS with the introduction of healthcare insurance.'

The list of grievances also included 'not choosing to protect' workers on zero hours contracts during his time in the European Parliament.

The damning DMA message included a quote from Farage saying: "I supported Margaret Thatcher. She was right.. It may have caused a little pain for some, but it had to happen."

The year-long miners' strike in 1984-5 was an attempt to stop Thatcher from closing coal mines across Britain.

The union urged members ahead of the May local elections: "If you vote for Reform UK, you are voting for an old Tory posh-boy millionaire who was fine with throwing miners on the dole, closing pits and destroying our communities...A vote for Reform is a vote for the policies of Thatcher."

In 2020, Mr Mardghum paraphrased Boris Johnson to say he would "rather die in a ditch" than see ‘red wall’ Conservative MPs attend the event.

The mining association boss also hit out at the Prime Minister, accusing him of using the “same kind of language” as Enoch Powell when discussing immigration.

Mr Mardghum, who was a Labour member from 1978 until last year, accused Sir Keir Starmer of “ineptitude” and acting “despicably” over the two-child benefit cap, means-testing the Winter Fuel Allowance and “betraying the WASPI women”.

He claims these unpopular government policies have led to successes for Nigel Farage’s party.

On Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Mardghum admitted: “We haven’t invited him this time” saying that previously his team have cited “diary issues”.

In the past Harold Wilson, Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock, Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn all attended the Gala as Labour leader, though they were shunned by Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Reform UK deputy leader on Durham County Council Darren Grimes said: “As the grandson of a Durham miner, I find it frankly insulting to be excluded from the Gala.

"Reform UK’s landslide majority was delivered by the very communities this event claims to celebrate. To shut us out is a slap in the face to the working-class people of Durham who put their faith in us.

"The Durham Miners’ Gala should be a celebration of Durham’s grit and graft—not a stage for political relics like Mr Mardghum to cling to a Labour movement that abandoned its people long ago.”