‘They never listen to the grassroots’: former DCC councillor on Reform’s leadership issues

By Jasmine Davey and Jarrad Hart

Durham County councillor Nick Brown announced his resignation from Reform UK on Thursday 12th February, citing poor leadership and “a culture of yes-men and ‘anything goes’”. Cllr Brown is now standing as an independent, having declined to hold a by-election. Palatinate spoke to Cllr Brown about his experience within Reform UK, and how the issues with DCC’s leadership are reflective of the wider party. 

Cllr Brown said that “what principally got me into politics was the whole Brexit business”. This motivated his decision to join UKIP and later the Brexit Party; he stood as an MP for the latter in 2019. Cllr Brown also added that “the primary reason I got [into local politics] was to try and fix Durham County Council” adding that it “has had a reputation … [of] not listening to its residents”. Cllr Brown was elected to a West Auckland seat in May 2025, and lost the DCC leadership bid to Andrew Husband later that month.

In his resignation letter, Cllr Brown criticised both council leader Andrew Husband and deputy council leader Darren Grimes. Addressing Cllr Husband, Cllr Brown stated “it is clear that certain members of Reform leadership, including yourself, but principally your deputy, Cllr Darren Grimes, hold members of their own administration in very serious disdain and consequently refuse to engage in any meaningful dialogue, instead choosing to insult and belittle them”.

Andrew spent … the entire weekend on Facebook trying to slag me off on every single page I could see … does he not have more important things to be off to?

Speaking to Palatinate, Cllr Brown referenced Cllr Grimes’s ego, stating it had gone “through the roof” since being elected to Reform. Before joining DCC, Cllr Grimes was a presenter for GB News. After Cllr Brown’s resignation, Cllr Grimes published a Substack article titled “The 13% councillor: Reform needs fighters, not passengers”. The article referenced Cllr Brown’s output, which was allegedly only 13% of that of his West Auckland ward colleague, Cllr Stephen Gray. Cllr Grimes then cited a 633% productivity gap between Cllr Brown and “active Reform members”, describing the councillor as “dead wood”. 

Cllr Brown refused these claims, asserting that Cllr Grimes had not previously raised any issues with productivity. He disputed Husband and Grimes’s reaction to his resignation, stating that “Andrew spent … the entire weekend on Facebook trying to slag me off on every single page I could see … does he not have more important things to be off to?” 

Referencing Cllr Husband’s statements, Cllr Brown added: “It’s neither professional nor appropriate … I would urge him to think very carefully about his future words.”

Cllr Brown has made an official complaint against Cllr Grimes, and “is assessing legal civil remedies over some of the things [Husband has] said”.. 

All of the parties that [Nigel’s] been in always have a top down approach, they never listen to the grassroots … whatever Nigel says, goes

Cllr Brown spoke of Reform’s social media focused approach, arguing that “one of the few things Nigel [Farage] respects is social media strength”. Referring to Farage’s leadership, claiming “all of the parties that he’s been in always have a top down approach, they never listen to the grassroots … whatever Nigel says, goes”. He claimed that this approach was one of the main issues with Reform, which he does not plan to vote for and “does[n’t] think they’ll do an especially good job”. Speaking on Nigel’s character, Cllr Brown said: “I have the utmost respect for him as a politician … but as a man, I’ve always had absolutely no respect for him whatsoever.” Cllr Brown has been a member of all three political parties led by Nigel Farage. 

Cllr Brown is not the only Reform councillor to have resigned from the Party in recent weeks. Since it took control of DCC in May 2025, seven councillors have either resigned or defected from Reform. Warwickshire County Council recently made headlines after they sacked two Reform councillors who were planning to defect. When asked if Reform has a retention problem, Cllr Brown said: “it ties back into … not trusting the grassroots.” He also claimed that “ if you’re not on board the Farage express … you may as well leave”. 

I have the utmost respect for [Nigel] as a politician … but as a man, I’ve always had absolutely no respect for him whatsoever

Cllr Brown is now standing as an independent, where he feels he can do a “better job”. He describes himself as “not comfortable in parties”, stating: “I like to speak my mind and don’t agree with … toeing the party line.” He does not plan to hold a by-election as he is standing as an independent, rather than defecting to another party. When asked whether former Tories defecting to Reform should hold by-elections, Cllr Brown said “I don’t know”, but added: “if I do move to another party, I have no plans to, but if I do, then I would trigger a by-election.”

Palatinate has presented the claims made in this article to both Councillor Grimes and Councillor Husband for comment, but did not hear back.

Image credit: Josh Eaton