Two Middlesbrough councillors elected as independents are actually members of Reform UK

Coun Mick Saunders, who leads the main opposition on Middlesbrough Council, and Coun Stephen Hill have said they will remain as independents, despite their membership of Nigel Farage’s party.

Two of Middlesbrough’s independent councillors have defended being members of Reform UK, after being accused of keeping their “true colours quiet” by Labour.

Coun Mick Saunders, who leads the main opposition on Middlesbrough Council, and Coun Stephen Hill have said they will remain as independents, despite their membership of Nigel Farage’s party.

Labour Coun Tom Mohan, of Hemlington, said that the two councillors, who both represent Park End and Beckfield, “aren’t being straight with the public”, keeping their “true colours quiet”.

Both Coun Saunders and Hill have recently updated their register of interests to include party membership of Reform UK.

Coun Hill hit back at the Labour councillor’s comments, saying he has held the same political beliefs throughout his tenure as a councillor and has never made a secret of them, “so for Coun Mohan to imply that I’ve somehow deceived residents is ludicrous”.

Coun Saunders said he was being “loyal” to his residents by remaining as an independent councillor, which was the banner under which he was elected.

The Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association (MICA) has nine members – including Coun Saunders and Hill – and don’t always vote as a bloc, with each councillor voting “based on their own judgement”, and no party whip, according to the group’s Facebook page.

By forming a group, the councillors involved gained greater recognition by Middlesbrough Council and can operate as the main opposition. There are other independents on the council who do not sit as part of MICA.

Coun Mohan said: “People deserve to know what party their councillor belongs to. These two have been found out and need to own up.”

Coun Hill responded saying: “It’s fortunate for Middlesbrough Labour that it doesn’t take a genius to see I haven’t hidden my membership of Reform – it was publicly published on my register of interests almost immediately after I joined.”

Both Coun Saunders and Hill confirmed that having been elected as independents in 2023, they would remain as independent councillors until the end of the four-year electoral term, which concludes next spring.

Coun Saunders said that if selected, he would stand as a Reform candidate for the council in May 2027.

Coun Saunders said: “I’m a very strong supporter of Reform nationally, and I’m bringing it to a local level now and it’ll be up to the residents” to decide “whether they want me or not.”

He confirmed that if he wasn’t selected as a Reform candidate, he would stand once again as an independent, saying: “The passion I still have for my community and Middlesbrough, is still there, whether I’m independent or Reform.”

Coun Mohan, however, demanded that the MICA leader “immediately resign” and “forfeit the £2,700 allowance”, that the leader of the largest opposition group on the council is entitled to.

He added: “The people of Middlesbrough deserve to know who really runs Reform in Middlesbrough – is it their apparent leader Cllr Rush or Cllr Saunders, the so-called independent.”

Coun Saunders responded: “When I explained my intentions [to MICA], they were in full support of me still being the MICA group leader until the next elections.”

Middlesbrough Council’s Reform grouping currently consists of two councillors, group leader Coun Joanne Rush and Coun Christine Cooper.

The latter used to be a member of MICA, but left the grouping last summer. Reform was listed on her register of interests before she formally became a party-affiliated councillor back in January.

Independent Coun Joan McTigue, who is not part of MICA, was briefly a Reform party member, but left the party and never sat as a Reform councillor.

Reform UK did not wish to comment on whether the national party has a policy on councillors who sit as independents but have membership of Reform.

The party did not offer an answer on whether Reform would stand a party-affiliated candidate against an independent candidate who is also a member of Reform UK, come 2027.

Middlesbrough residents will head to the polls to elect all 46 of its councillors and the town’s mayor, in just nine months time, on Thursday, May 6, 2027. Middlesbrough is keeping the same number of councillors, however ward boundary changes mean that some residents will find themselves in a new ward, or have a different number of councillors to vote for.

Coun Hill explained that he first stood for election in 2019, after seeing what he described as the “devastation” caused by the previous Labour administration, highlighting the “needless, disgusting demolition of The Southlands Centre in my ward”, with the new centre opening in July this year.

He said it was for a “similar” reason that he had joined Reform, saying that the last two years had brought “hardships” for people across the country.

He criticised the Labour government and said that “the only national party that provides a credible, positive, and realistic alternative to that future is Reform, which is why I have given them my support as a party member.”

Coun Hill also said: “Being an independent doesn’t mean my residents expect me to have no political beliefs of my own, only that I represent them in a way that puts them first, rather than following a party line – the opposite of which is so often demonstrated by Middlesbrough’s Labour councillors.”

Coun Saunders put his joining of Reform down to what he said was the “betrayal” by the Labour Party when it comes to illegal immigration, asserting it has been Reform who has challenged the French government.

Coun Saunders added: “I’ve always said, being part of a political party, you sometimes need to toe the party line, but I have no intentions of doing that, I’ll speak my mind accordingly.

“I’m not a nodding donkey like the rest of the local Labour Party. I have no intentions of being like that, whether I’m in a political party or not.”

He confirmed that even as a potential Reform councillor in the future, he would keep speaking his mind: “Absolutely, 110 per cent.”

One member of the MICA group, who admitted to not speaking up when Cllr Saunders originally told the group of his intentions, said that most MICA members were fine with the situation, but added that events meant: “I have been considering my position with being a member of MICA.”

The councillor, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “Although I’m happy that any [MICA] member can be a party member of any party, it does make it a little bit different being a group leader which may see us all being tarred with the same brush.”