Reform councillor defects to Restore Britain in Hertfordshire alleging 'abuse and mistreatment' from management

Cllr Colley, who was elected to represent the Bedwell division in May last year, announced his departure during a meeting of the county council on Tuesday.

He pointed to “abuse and mistreatment” that he claimed to have endured from members of the “Reform management group” – and to “incompetence”, at a regional and national level.

At a local level, he raised concerns about how council funding had been allocated by Reform councillors. Every year, county councillors are allocated a sum through the members’ locality budget – which was £5000 in 2025/26 – to support community projects.

But at the meeting, Cllr Colley raised concerns about the way some of this had been allocated.

“I take this opportunity to underline that I do not agree with the acute attention that has been given by Reform to increasing funding towards chosen charitable ‘set-ups’ through locality budgets, that councillors allocate at their preference – including to those controlled by their own partners,” he said.

“How can that be right, while increasing the public’s council tax contributions? Councillors’ privileges need better scrutiny and control by those in positions of authority.”

Cllr Colley told the meeting he intended to continue in his role as a county councillor, as a representative of the new Restore Britain party.

He said: ” Reform has very quickly become just like those ‘other parties’- even though they continue to try and desperately lead us all to believe that they are the alternative.

“Democratically, I no longer think so, but I’ll leave you to your individual consciences. I will be continuing in my elected role as county councillor for Bedwell division. But I am left with no alternative but to formally announce my resignation from the Reform Party.

“I now stand as Restore Britain’s first Hertfordshire county councillor.”

Restore Britain was initially set up as a political movement last year, but was launched as a political party earlier this month. Commenting on the concerns raised by Cllr Colley with regard to the allocation of members’ locality budgets, a county council spokesperson later told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The county council will review the allegations made by Cllr Colley and decide whether an investigation is required.”

Following the meeting, the leader of the county council’s Reform group, Cllr Doug Bainbridge, who was not at the meeting, said allegations made by Cllr Colley were “without substance”.

He said: “Peter has been unhappy for a while. And I hope he finds what he is looking for.”

But he also defended Reform against the criticism, suggesting the party continued to “grow exponentially quickly, because people were looking for an alternative”.

And he said the county council had been aware of the allocation of the locality budget referred to by Cllr Colley, and that it had been approved in advance.