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Bruce Craze, Restore Britain councillor for Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon

Photo: Cornwall Council

Bruce Craze

Deputy Group Leader, Restore Britain — councillor for Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon

Formerly: Reform UK councillor, Cornwall Council — May 2025 to 29 July 2026

Ward
Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon
Elected
1 May 2025
Defected
29 July 2026
Now sits as
Restore Britain

Key facts

  • Defected from Reform UK to Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain on 29 July 2026 — Cornwall's second Restore Britain councillor, taking the party to two seats on Cornwall Council.
  • Cornwall councillor for Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon since 1 May 2025, elected on the Reform UK ticket in the party's 28-seat Cornwall breakthrough.
  • A backbencher throughout his time with Reform UK: sat on the Licensing Act Committee and its sub-committees, and held no group office.
  • Immediately became Deputy Group Leader of the Restore Britain group on Cornwall Council. The group has two members — Roger Tarrant leads it, Craze deputises — so both of its councillors hold office.
  • His departure took the Reform UK group from 21 seats to 20 — the tenth of the 28 councillors elected in May 2025 to leave the party.
  • Reform's Cornwall group leader, Cllr Paul Ashton, said the resignation followed a meeting with the whip and deputy leader about Craze's "ongoing poor performance as a councillor" — a claim Craze's own statement does not address.

The resignation

“The party which I stood for no longer resembles the party which I sit with today.”

— Bruce Craze, 29 July 2026, Written resignation statement

Craze resigned from the Reform UK group on 29 July 2026, defecting to Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain and joining Cllr Roger Tarrant, who had made the same move three months earlier. His written statement, reported in full by Cornwall Live, argues that Reform UK has weakened its policies in office and that its Cornwall Council group was divided and unprepared for opposition. Reform's group leader said the resignation followed a meeting about Craze's performance as a councillor.

Read the full resignation statement →

Career arc

  1. 1 May 2025

    Elected to Cornwall Council for Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon as a Reform UK candidate, part of the party's 28-seat sweep — its largest single breakthrough at any unitary authority in Britain.

  2. 2025–2026

    Served as a Reform UK backbencher, sitting on the Licensing Act Committee, the Licensing Act Sub Committee and the Street Trading and Pavement Licensing Sub Committee. Held no Reform group office.

  3. 21 April 2026

    Reform UK deputy group leader Roger Tarrant defected to Restore Britain, becoming Cornwall's first councillor for the party — the move Craze would follow three months later.

  4. 29 July 2026

    Resigned from the Reform UK group and joined Restore Britain, saying the party "no longer resembles the party which I sit with today" and that the Cornwall group had been "bitterly divided". Reform's group leader Paul Ashton said the resignation came shortly after a meeting about Craze's performance as a councillor.

  5. From 29 July 2026

    Recorded on Cornwall Council's member index as Deputy Group Leader of the Restore Britain group, under Roger Tarrant. The group's officers appear on the index only from the point Craze's defection took it to two councillors.

Public record

Craze's full voting record, attendance, committee memberships, and decisions are on his councillor profile page. Ward-level activity for Four Lanes, Beacon & Troon is on the ward page.

Sources

This dossier draws exclusively on publicly available records and mainstream reporting: Cornwall Council's democracy portal, and the local and national press coverage of Craze's defection.

  1. [1] Cornwall Live — Another Reform UK councillor in Cornwall quits with fiery statement — Local Democracy Reporting Service, 29 July 2026. Carries the resignation statement in full and Paul Ashton's response.
  2. [2] Mark Pack — How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections? — national defection tracker recording Craze's move to Restore Britain
  3. [3] Cornwall Council democracy portal — Cllr Bruce Craze — councillor profile, ward, committee appointments
  4. [4] Cornwall Political Watch — Craze's resignation statement, 29 July 2026 — verbatim archive with Reform UK's response
  5. [5] Cornwall Political Watch — Cllr Bruce Craze — attendance record, voting history and committee memberships
  6. [6] Cornwall Political Watch — Reform UK in Cornwall — the twelve-month collapse (full investigation)

Corrections & contact

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