A group of five former Reform UK councillors, who have all resigned from the party in Cornwall this month, have formed a new political group which they say won’t follow national party politics and will be a “benign” force for the good of Cornwall Council and the Duchy’s residents.

The Cornish Independent Non-Aligned Group (CING) will be led by Cllr Rowland O’Connor, who resigned from both his post as deputy leader of Cornwall Council’s Reform group and the party itself on October 9. The deputy CING leader will be Cllr Rob Parsonage, who resigned from Reform over the weekend after previously stepping down as the group’s leader at the local authority.

Joining them are councillors Christine Parsonage, Karen Knight and Anna Thomason-Kenyon who all stood down from Reform over the past few days. Cllr O’Connor says the new group aims to provide a fresh, non-partisan voice in local government and promises to collaborate across party lines. They say they aim for transparency in decision making and want to help to address the council’s increasing debt.

“The Duchy deserves councillors who focus on the unique challenges and opportunities facing our communities,” said Cllr O’Connor. “By working independently, we can ensure that local voices are heard and decisions are made for the benefit of our residents, not party agendas.”

The formation of the Cornish Independent Non-Aligned Group begs the obvious question – why have they all left Reform?

“It might appear like a mystery from the outside looking in, but from the inside looking out it’s probably not such a mystery,” said Cllr O’Connor. “Reform UK is a national party campaigning for national elections and when we got elected as the group of 28 a lot of us were minded that we were coming in to serve our residents and the best interests of our home – because we all live in Cornwall.

“When you’re in local government, it’s pretty much an apolitical operation. Reform UK has got to do what Reform UK has got to do. I’ve been in since the beginning – I stood for the general election last year and as a councillor back in 2021, so I’ve had five years of my life in the party, but I put my name on the ballot box to serve the residents of my area.

“Reform UK are going in a particular direction wanting to leverage the opportunity to be in council to secure a national change, which is absolutely the right thing – we do need a national change – but we need to get on and serve our residents as were elected to do.”

He added: “A lot of us have had personal decision points – there is always a personal decision point and that’s the clincher. For me, it was who do I serve? When I was in Reform UK as deputy leader I was serving multiple masters – the party, the national agenda and then I was trying to serve my residents. Increasingly, my casework was falling behind because a lot of it was to do with party politics. A lot of us have had that push-pull between national objectives and local need.

“We run services, we’re implementers in council. We’re not policy setters and Reform UK is off looking for issues to do with migration, net zero, DEI and all the rest of it, which doesn’t really apply at local level.”

I asked if the much-reported infighting which has been happening within Reform UK in Cornwall has played a part in leaving the party. “Possibly. Yes,” said Cllr O’Connor. “I’ve enjoyed a pretty good career over the decades and been involved in small, medium and large enterprises and I have to say that this has been the most challenging time.

“Why wouldn’t it be? You’ve got 28 strangers chucked in a room together, all with different abilities, backgrounds, beliefs, values and everything else. It’s been a difficult time, but that’s the nature of Reform. It’s a grassroots movement and people get elected, and then form a group together and try and make the best of it. I’m hoping the drama will die down a bit now.”

So, the new group will work alongside the Lib Dem / Independent administration?

“Exactly. I’ve spoken to all the group leaders now and the proposition I’ve put to all of them is that our group is benign. We don’t have any political ambitions to take over the council, the nation, the world or whatever it is.

“We are here to lend a shoulder to try and push the council forward against some fairly significant financial and service challenges that it’s facing at the moment. We’re here to help and cooperate rather than be confrontational – we’ve got a wealth of experience from outside industry that we can bring to the council.”

CING have said that it will focus on key issues including local infrastructure, community services including transport, and economic development across sectors such as defence, farming and fishing.