FOLLOWING a dreadful month for Reform UK in Cornwall which has seen infighting among members in public and a series of high profile councillor resignations, LDRS reporter LEE TREWHELA sat down with the party’s new group leader at Cornwall Council insisting any suggestions of a crisis by stressing the troubles have simply been a “blip”.

Cllr Paul Ashton has also refuted comments by the group’s former deputy leader that local councillors have to focus on national Reform policies such as immigration and net zero rather than prioritising important issues affecting Cornish voters such as affordable housing and public services.

He said there was no directive from Nigel Farage or any other Reform grandee that members have to toe the national line. “There is nobody from HQ breathing down our necks saying you’ve got to do this or you’ve got to do that.”

Cllr Ashton made the comments in his first interview since being elected as the group leader by his fellow Reform councillors – who made up the largest political group on Cornwall Council. That was until five members jumped ship to form a breakaway Cornish Independent Non-aligned Group last month. Their number includes his predecessor, Cllr Rob Parsonage, whose wife Christine resigned from the new group and the council last week.

The Reform group is now the biggest political opposition, with 23 councillors, to the Lib Dem’s 26 councillors, who formed a coalition cabinet with Independent members following the May 1 council election.

As I sat down at Lys Kernow / New County Hall in Truro with Cllr Ashton, who lives within the St Austell Poltair and Mount Charles division he represents, the first topic of conversation had to be what many onlookers have deemed as a crisis for Reform UK in Cornwall.

“I don’t call it a crisis – we might call it a blip,” he said “The majority of our councillors were doing good case work, building relationships in their communities and serving on committees. These issues crop up and we’d rather they didn’t. It did cause internal difficulty and it was sad to see them move on from Reform.

“We need to put that behind us and move forward in a positive way and our electorate demands that really. We’ve learned a lot from it – we’re a new party and we know this goes on all the time in other parties, so we’re not unusual in that respect except we’re disappointed because we’re trying to be different. It wasn’t a good look and we’d rather it didn’t happen.

“Some people have probably been disappointed with us. We’re sorry that that’s happened, but in terms of long-term damage I don’t think that is the case. I think that people are really rooting for Reform and the people we’ve met in recent weeks have been understanding that these things happen but want a better future.”

Is this definitely the end of the drama then?

“I have no knowledge of anyone else who’s going to resign. It would be a real shock if that happened. We’ve got 23 councillors raring to go – bit of a reset, new leadership, new vision, new strategy and we’ve got a very positive outlook.”

What is that new vision and strategy?

“It’s basically refreshing what we’ve got already, which is our Contract for Cornwall, which we used during the election. It’s about making sure we’re an effective opposition, that we’re scrutinising key decisions.

“I’d like Reform to be in power and if we were in power then I’d want to do a complete overhaul [of the council], not in any destructive way. I’ve spent my life working in public services, so it’s not to be foolish but to apply a real external view of how we’re doing things.

“I’d like to get stuck into the housing issue and find new innovative ways of trying to bring about affordable housing and social housing particularly, not in the way they’re built at the moment. I’d like to see more one-person and two-people dwellings particularly for our Cornish people. I also want to look at our arm’s length companies and they’re efficiencies. Just to look again at refreshing our vision as it’s costing us a lot of money at the moment.”

Cllr Ashton added: “Housing is very difficult to afford. Do we stand back and do nothing? We have to refresh the whole thing. And get rid of the huge debt – we have the 12th biggest council debt in the country. We can’t allow that to run even further.

“Also, the issue to do with farms across Cornwall. There were some decisions made recently about selling off farmhouses and small parcels of land. The portfolio holder made it clear that the selling off of farms is not happening. He made that absolutely clear, but we want to probe that a little bit more. Does that mean altogether or just for now? We are awaiting an independent report that is due – we will scrutinise that.

“We are pro farming and pro fisheries. We want to see those industries supported and we want to see them grow and flourish, and become more dynamic than they are the moment because they’re being held back.”

Born In Barnstaple in North Devon, Cllr Ashton – who has Cornish grandparents – started working on a farm at 15 before joining the NHS after qualifying as a nurse. He left 25 years later when he was chief executive of a Community NHS Trust in Solihull. He then became CEO of a national disability charity before moving to Cornwall 11 years ago and now runs a St Austell-based home care company with his wife.

Asked what he thought of the swathe of job cuts which have been proposed by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, he replied: “It’s a very concerning time. I don’t like to see job losses in the NHS particularly when we know that we need more staff. The whole thing doesn’t make sense.”

Who will be the Reform UK candidate in the forthcoming St Columb Minor by-election to replace Cllr Christine Parsonage? How will that candidate be chosen – will local branch members decide or will the candidate be imposed from London?

“We haven’t got a candidate yet. We’re on the case. I’ve been talking to a few people in the last few days about that. Watch this space. It will be someone who we decide locally.”

Does Cllr Ashton agree that constituency chairmen should be banned from seeking selection as Parliamentary candidates? This has been a bit of a hot topic within Reform and was one of the reasons for the recent heated public argument in a Cornish pub.

“There are two elements to most parties – there’s a corporate element and there’s the local council. Ultimately we want to speak as one voice. If you’ve got a candidate that is doing a superb job as a chair why would you not want to put them forward? We’ve got to decide the right way forward. We have an agreement that it’s not the best practice to have a councillor that is also the chair of a branch, so we’re sorting that out in cases where that happens.”

Is there a disconnect between what the party is seeking nationally and what Reform councillors want to achieve locally? The Reform defectors said last week that there is a “disparity” between Reform’s national agenda and the interests of Cornish residents.

“No, I’ve never seen that. I saw the comments that were made but I don’t recognise that at all. First and foremost we are councillors for our division. The people who elected us are the people we serve. Whilst we carry the national party’s views into the work that we do, I’ve never ever experienced anybody who has said you must toe the national line. I’m very clear on that. It’s not an issue for our councillors. There is nobody from HQ breathing down our necks saying you’ve got to do this or you’ve got to do that.”

What’s his reaction to the opinion that Reform is far right, fascist and racist because of its immigration stance?

“I saw that myself during the election period when I went door-knocking. A couple of people stood on the doorstep shouting ‘you’re a fascist’ and ‘you’re a racist’. To those people I said, you’re entitled to your view but there not a racist bone in my body at all.

“Our family is mixed race. Many of our councillors have mixed race families. We’re just ordinary people that have a centre right view about things, but not far right. We’re not against legal migration at all, it’s about the illegal migration which is leading to a lot of stresses and strains in our country.

“We want to capture back some of the things that we believe we’ve lost in recent years and something radical needs to change. The country is sliding into bankruptcy almost – there has to be some new way of taking the country forward.”

Has Reform really got the political heft and experience to do that? “Yes, that’s why I moved from my settee last year to become a councillor for Reform because I didn’t want to see any more sliding and loss of culture and identity. Decisions were being made that seemed crazy to me with my business background.

“I think we’ve got a very strong leader who actually speaks to you about what he believes, which is something of great value. Despite where you are on the spectrum of politics, you’ve got a leader who says what he thinks.”

But surely Nigel Farage can say and promise anything to bolster his popularity while he’s an opposition leader of a party with just five MPs? “I’ve heard that said before but I don’t believe it. I believe he is a man of integrity and passion, and cares radically about the country.

“We want to have more understanding of what it is to live in the countryside – we’re losing our shops, our post offices, pubs are closing, even some churches are closing, but it’s not lost. I think we can recover some of that ground.”

Will Cllr Ashton still be Reform UK’s leader in Cornwall this time next year?

One thing’s for certain, he’ll want a less eventful six months than the party has  experienced since May’s Cornwall Council election.