On 14 January, Reform UK received 21 defected councillors. Many right-wingers see the party as the most likely vehicle for them to keep power. One of them, in a surprise to many, had actually defected from the Green Party.

But he sounds distinctly un-Green.

Most those defectors, predictably, had been Conservatives. But one lonesome Green councillor from St Helens, David Hawley, also jumped over to Reform UK.

Hawley explained that he thought Reform was the party that currently “best represents” his views. And when he gave a bit more information, it became a little clearer why that was. Because he said he had:

voted for Brexit to take back control of Britain’s borders and lower immigration

If that was his main priority, of course, it never made much sense for him to be in the Green Party in the first place. Because the Greens were always openly and fervently anti-Brexit. And their immigration stance has long focused on compassion and an understanding of the factors that lead people to leave their home countries.

It’s perhaps true that current Green leader Zack Polanski has brought Green opinions on immigration to a wider audience and spoken clearly against the racist scapegoating of immigrant communities. So maybe that pushed Hawley to leave. But in reality, it seems the Greens were never the right fit for his views anyway.

Fortunately, Hawley’s defection didn’t change much. And neither did the other defections. Because they didn’t change any council’s balance of political control. In St Helens in particular, Reform remains only a minor party on the council.

Featured image via St Helens Borough Council

By Ed Sykes

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