Reform UK in Cornwall: The Twelve-Month Collapse

The numbers#

Departures in chronological order

Reform UK Cornwall Council departures in chronological order

	Date	Councillor	Ward	Outgoing role	Destination
	9 Oct 2025	Rowland O'Connor	St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn	Group deputy leader	Independent → CING founder
	11 Oct 2025	Rob Parsonage	Torpoint	Group leader	Stayed Reform briefly, then CING
	Mid-Oct 2025	Karen Knight	Camborne West & Treswithian	Backbencher	CING
	25–26 Oct 2025	Anna Thomason-Kenyon	Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan	Backbencher	CING
	25–26 Oct 2025	Rob Parsonage(second move)	Torpoint	Reform party	CING (deputy leader)
	Oct 2025	Christine Parsonage	St Columb Minor & Colan	Backbencher	Resigned council seat (medical)
	25 Feb 2026	Rob Parsonage(third party in nine months)	Torpoint	CING	Conservatives
	21 April 2026	Roger Tarrant	Redruth North	Group deputy leader	Restore Britain
	22–23 April 2026	Susanne Desmonde	Pool & Tehidy	Backbencher	Independent Non-Aligned

Standalone, regularly-updated list: Reform UK Cornwall defections.

A separate branch-level departure is documented in published reporting: Curtis Mellows, Reform's South East Cornwall branch chair (a volunteer post, not a councillor), was removed by central party in autumn 2025 and subsequently suspended from the party over a Prince Harry social-media post. Mellows has stated on the record that he had filed unaddressed bullying and harassment complaints within Reform Cornwall before his removal.

Phase one: The cracks (May – September 2025)#

The first five months looked, on the surface, like a successful insurgency. Reform's 28 councillors were the largest single group. The party promised an administration. Then the Liberal Democrats and Independents combined to lock Reform out, and the group's first decision was a public refusal to sign Cornwall Council's code of conduct, citing concerns it would restrict debate on net zero and equalities. The protest dissolved within days. By August, two early structural weaknesses were public.

The paper-candidate problem

On 11 August 2025, Christine Parsonage — Reform UK councillor for St Columb Minor & Colan and the wife of group leader Rob Parsonage — admitted in writing to the Cornish Times that she had stood as “a paper candidate to give people the opportunity to have their voices heard,” that she “did not expect to win,” and that she lived approximately 40 miles from her division in Torpoint. Newquay Town Council had voted on 6 August to write a formal letter demanding she attend meetings. She took special leave on health grounds on 9 September and resigned her seat by the end of October, triggering the December 2025 St Columb Minor by-election.

The branch-chair problem

That same August, Curtis Mellows — South East Cornwall Reform branch chair — went publicly on the record describing Rob Parsonage as possessing “neither the intellect nor leadership qualities, or indeed any charisma.” Mellows would be removed by central party in the autumn, suspended from Reform UK over an offensive Prince Harry social-media post, and on his way out would tell multiple outlets (Cornwall Live via Yahoo; The New World; East Devon Watch) that he had filed bullying and harassment complaints internally that were “ignored both regionally and nationally.” Two complaints from inside the tent, in the first three months. Neither was addressed publicly by the party.

Phase two: The October cascade#

October 2025 was the month that broke it.

• 9 October — Rowland O'Connor, Reform's Cornwall group deputy leader and councillor for St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn, resigns from Reform UK and from his deputy role. His statement says his “priorities had increasingly diverged from those of the party.” He sits as an Independent (BBC Cornwall; Cornish Times; GB News).
• 11 October — Rob Parsonage, group leader and councillor for Torpoint, stands down as group leader. He initially stays a Reform councillor (Left Foot Forward; ITV West Country).
• 13 October — Cllr Keith Johnson (Saltash Tamar) is elected interim group leader; Cllr Kevin Towill (Newquay Porth & Tretherras), Cornwall's first Reform councillor, becomes interim deputy.
• 18 October — The Highwayman pub incident, Dobwalls (see below).
• 22 October — Reform Cornwall holds an emergency leadership election. Cllr Paul Ashton (St Austell Poltair and Mount Charles) is elected group leader; Cllr Roger Tarrant (Redruth North) elected deputy.
• 25–26 October — Over a single weekend, Rob Parsonage, Christine Parsonage, Anna Thomason-Kenyon and Karen Knight all formally resign from Reform UK. Together with Rowland O'Connor, they form the Cornish Independent Nonaligned Group, with O'Connor as group leader and Parsonage as deputy. Reform drops to 23 councillors. The Liberal Democrats, on 26, become the largest group on the council.

In seventeen days, Reform Cornwall lost its leader, its deputy, the leader's wife, two further councillors, and its position as the largest party on the council. The audio from 18 October is the only contemporaneous primary source from inside the dispute.

The Highwayman recording#

After “An Afternoon With Ann Widdecombe” at Dobwalls Memorial Hall on the afternoon of 18 October 2025, a group of Reform UK members and councillors moved to The Highwayman pub in Dobwalls. What was recorded over the following minutes — by an as-yet-publicly-unnamed individual, on a phone — captures the operational dispute that defined Cornwall Reform's autumn.

What's on the recording

Groves repeatedly presses Parsonage on three things: that he and his branch chair counterpart had stood down as branch chairmen because they could not hold both branch and Cornwall Council leadership roles; that Roger Tarrant was being replaced as Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch chair by “Nathan Michell,” recommended by Tarrant himself; and that the existing Reform Cornwall constituency Facebook pages were being closed and replaced with six new ones aligned to parliamentary constituencies, in order — Groves quotes from a message — to prevent “certain actors who are in the process … of trying to take control of the narrative in Cornwall by removing branch chairmen in favour of their own plants.” A bystander interrupts to ask Groves why proxy votes had been blocked at a recent meeting and why a meeting was held in Saltash rather than centrally. Groves dismisses him: “That man has no idea.”

Groves names the off-tape regional director who, she says, made the decision to install Michell: “[Paul Mills] had decided to put that Nathan in situ” — adding, “I'm really glad that you're recording this because I will ask Paul Mills that, 'cos that's news to me.” Mills — Reform UK's South West Regional Director, the subject of a separate CPW dossier — was named publicly by role and name in subsequent reporting: Cornwall Live (11 November 2025) carried a Reform UK national spokesperson quoting that “only the regional director (Paul Mills) can appoint a branch chairman”; The Guardian (16 November 2025) named Mills in its Cornwall long-read.

The unidentified bystander, walking out, calls the situation “a disgusting situation … totally underhand, totally treacherous.” Ian Brown then defends Andrea Lovett to the same bystander: “Speaking to Andrea like that is disgusting, and our lawyers will be involved. Go away, you horrible, odious little man. Odious little man.”

What happened next. A copy of the recording was emailed anonymously to the Cornwall Local Democracy Reporting Service. Cornwall Live, Yahoo, Dorset Eye and others reported on it. Within seven days, Parsonage had stood down as group leader; within thirteen, he and three other councillors had left the party. Cornwall Live characterised the row as “the final nail in the coffin” for his leadership.

The Cornish Independent Nonaligned Group#

Five Reform councillors left in October formed a new group on Cornwall Council — the Cornish Independent Nonaligned Group (“CING”). Its founding members:

• Rowland O'Connor (St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn) — group leader
• Rob Parsonage (Torpoint) — deputy leader, until his move to the Conservatives in February 2026
• Anna Thomason-Kenyon (Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan)
• Karen Knight (Camborne West & Treswithian)
• Christine Parsonage (St Columb Minor & Colan), until her resignation from the council itself

Speaking to the Cornish Times, O'Connor said members had been told to focus on “immigration and net zero” instead of housing and public services. Parsonage alleged on the record (reported by East Devon Watch) that members had been instructed by central party — via a WhatsApp group — to oppose all renewable energy planning applications “whatever their merit.” Cornwall Political Watch has not seen the original WhatsApp messages; this allegation is reported here as Parsonage's claim.

CING's stated position: a Cornwall-first focus, working cross-party rather than against other groups, no national-issue motions imposed from outside Cornwall.

Where the original 28 went#

Of Reform UK's 28 councillors elected on 1 May 2025, where they are now:

The eight who are no longer Reform councillors

Seven who left the party plus one — Cllr Kevin Towill — who died in office. Photos and current status:

Rowland O'Connor

St Columb Major, St Mawgan & St Wenn

CING leader

Rob Parsonage

Torpoint

Conservative

Christine Parsonage

St Columb Minor & Colan

Resigned seat

Anna Thomason-Kenyon

Constantine, Mabe & Mawnan

CING

Karen Knight

Camborne West & Treswithian

CING

Roger Tarrant

Redruth North

Restore Britain

Susanne Desmonde

Pool & Tehidy

Ind. Non-Aligned

Kevin Towill

Newquay Porth & Tretherras

Deceased

Phase three: The slow leak (November 2025 – April 2026)#

Six months after October, the bleed continued.

November 2025. East Devon Watch publishes a comprehensive timeline of the collapse. According to its reporting, Roger Tarrant — by then Reform's new deputy group leader — has also been removed against members' wishes from his Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch chair role, replaced by “an unknown” parachuted in. Cornwall Political Watch's dossier research names the replacement as Nathan Michell; this name is not used in any published Cornwall reporting. On 4 November, new group leader Paul Ashton tells the Holsworthy Today: “I don't call it a crisis – we might call it a blip … There is nobody from HQ breathing down our necks.”

December 2025. Reform UK wins the St Columb Minor & Colan by-election triggered by Christine Parsonage's resignation. Heinz Glanville takes the seat with 408 votes on a 27.65% turnout (Hits Radio).

February 2026. Cllr Kevin Towill dies aged 46 of a brain tumour first diagnosed in January 2024 (Radio Newquay). Cornwall Council's first-ever Reform UK member — he had defected from the Conservatives in early 2025 — Towill was a former Mayor of Newquay (2012/13) and had served as Reform's interim deputy group leader from 13 to 22 October 2025. His seat triggers the April 2026 Newquay Porth & Tretherras by-election.

25 February 2026. Rob Parsonage, by now leader of the breakaway CING group, joins the Conservatives — his third political home in nine months. He is welcomed personally by Cornwall Conservative leader Cllr Connor Donnithorne (Cornish Times; Cornwall Reports). Reform → CING → Conservative.

21 April 2026. Roger Tarrant announces his resignation from Reform UK at the start of full Cornwall Council. He defects to Restore Britain, the new party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe — becoming Cornwall's first Restore Britain councillor and one of approximately twenty nationwide (Cornish Times; Left Foot Forward; Cornish Stuff). Tarrant predicts further departures from Reform Cornwall and a leadership challenge against Paul Ashton at the May AGM. A Reform UK spokesperson responds that Tarrant had recently asked to be made leader, was passed over, and defected in retaliation.

22 April 2026 — the organising reshuffle. The day after Tarrant's defection, Reform UK consolidates its Cornwall organising structure. The West Cornwall organiser post — held by Alison Groves since the May 2025 election — is abolished. Andrea Lovett, until then County Organiser for the East only, is promoted to sole County Organiser for the whole of Cornwall. Groves steps down from the County Organiser (West) role only; she retains her Reform UK membership, her Ludgvan parish seat, and her existing Vice Chair role at the Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch — under Nathan Michell, the same chair whose appointment she had objected to on the Highwayman recording six months earlier, telling colleagues she had “never met that man before, ever.” What changed is the county-organiser layer, not the branch role: Groves no longer holds a parallel post that ranked above branch level, and the two figures named together on the recording — Lovett and Groves — end the day on opposite ends of the Cornwall Reform organisational chart.

22 or 23 April 2026. Susanne Desmonde (Pool & Tehidy) — who had been on extended medical leave through November 2025 — resigns Reform UK and joins the Independent Non-Aligned Group, the same week as Tarrant (Voice Newspapers).

23 April 2026. Reform UK retains the Newquay Porth & Tretherras seat in the by-election triggered by Kevin Towill's death. Lyndon Harrison wins with 645 votes. The Greens (Abigail Hubbucks) come a close second on 529. Turnout rises from May 2025's 33% to 37%, but Reform's vote share falls (Cornwall Reports). Harrison, on the night, criticises Hubbucks for refusing to shake his hand on the count floor.

The dossier-only cast#

Two further names appear repeatedly in Cornwall Political Watch's own dossier research as central to the operational dispute, but do not appear by name in any published Cornwall reporting consulted for this investigation. They are recorded here on the basis of CPW's own primary research and are presented separately for transparency. Paul Mills previously appeared in this section; he was named in published reporting in November 2025 and is now treated as a publicly-identified figure in the body above.

• Graham Young
  Reform UK National Director

  Per CPW dossier research, Young — a former gamekeeper from Glasgow with near-zero public profile — relays directives between national HQ and regional / county organisers. Not named in any Cornwall-specific published reporting.

• Nathan Michell
  Replacement Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch chair

  Per CPW dossier research, the replacement branch chair installed in autumn 2025 after Roger Tarrant was removed. Published reporting refers to this person only as 'an unknown' parachuted in.

Cornwall Political Watch is publishing these names in good faith based on its own research. If either of the two believes the information here is inaccurate, they are invited to contact us via the contact page and we will promptly investigate and correct.

The conduct record#

Cornwall Council's standards process has, in the same twelve-month window, recorded 11 code-of-conduct cases involving Reform UK Cornwall councillors. Most ended in a finding of no breach, but two are substantively serious. None have been reported on by news media.

The two serious cases

• Peter Channon (Hayle West) — upheld breach. The Hayle Town Clerk complained that Cllr Channon “behaved disrespectfully, made slanderous statements about the Council and the clerk's professionalism, and engaged in bullying and conduct bringing the Council into disrepute.” The standards assessment concluded a breach of the Code of Conduct. Full case detail.
• Steve Trevelyan (Roche & Bugle) — breach found, referred for censure. A resident complained that Cllr Trevelyan “responded to concerns about speeding with mocking and insulting remarks on social media.” The assessment found breaches of Code of Conduct sections 2.1, 2.3, 2.5 and 2.10, and referred the matter to the Standards Committee for formal censure. Full case detail.

Curtis Mellows's stated complaints — bullying and harassment within Reform Cornwall, allegedly raised internally and “ignored both regionally and nationally” before his removal — are not reflected in any Cornwall Council standards committee record we can identify. Internal-party complaints would not, in any event, generate council standards records.

What happens next#

Three things to watch.

The May 2026 Cornwall Reform AGM. Roger Tarrant predicted on 21 April, on his way out, both further defections from Reform Cornwall and a leadership challenge against Paul Ashton. Ashton has been in post for six months. The AGM is the constitutional moment where his leadership is renewed or rejected.

The by-elections. Christine Parsonage's seat was held by Reform in December 2025 (St Columb Minor & Colan, Heinz Glanville). Kevin Towill's seat was retained, narrowly, by Reform on 23 April 2026 (Newquay Porth & Tretherras, Lyndon Harrison) — but the Greens came within 116 votes. Any further Reform councillor resigning their seat (rather than the party) opens another by-election.

The serious conduct cases. Peter Channon's upheld breach (5 December 2025) and Steve Trevelyan's referred case (23 October 2025) sit in the formal council record. The Standards Committee's options on a referred case include censure, training requirements and reporting to the council. None of this has been reported on in news media. Cornwall Council's standards process is the legitimate route for accountability on member conduct, and its decisions are public records.

Frequently asked questions#

Why did Reform UK's Cornwall Council group leader resign?

Rob Parsonage stood down as Reform UK's Cornwall Council group leader on 11 October 2025 following a period of internal dispute culminating in the secretly recorded Highwayman pub confrontation of 18 October. Within thirteen days of the recording becoming public, Parsonage and three other councillors had left the party entirely. Cornwall Live characterised the row as 'the final nail in the coffin' for his leadership.

What was the Highwayman pub recording?

On 18 October 2025, a group of Reform UK members and councillors moved from an Ann Widdecombe event at Dobwalls Memorial Hall to The Highwayman pub. A confrontation between then-County Organiser (West Cornwall) Alison Groves, then-leader Cllr Rob Parsonage and supporters was secretly recorded by an unidentified individual. On the recording, Groves names Reform UK Regional Director Paul Mills as having decided to install Nathan Michell as Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch chair — a decision Groves describes as news to her. The recording is the only contemporaneous primary source from inside the dispute.

How many Reform UK councillors has Cornwall lost?

Of Reform UK's 28 councillors elected on 1 May 2025, at least eight have left the party in twelve months: leader Rob Parsonage, deputy Rowland O'Connor, Christine Parsonage, Anna Thomason-Kenyon, Karen Knight, deputy Roger Tarrant (to Restore Britain), Susanne Desmonde, and Kevin Towill (deceased). Two by-election gains brought the group back to 22 — but the group has lost largest-party status to the Liberal Democrats (26).

What is the Cornish Independent Nonaligned Group?

The Cornish Independent Nonaligned Group ('CING') is a new group on Cornwall Council formed in late October 2025 by five councillors who had left Reform UK: Rowland O'Connor (group leader), Rob Parsonage (deputy, until his February 2026 move to the Conservatives), Anna Thomason-Kenyon, Karen Knight, and Christine Parsonage (until her resignation from the council). CING's stated position is a Cornwall-first focus and cross-party working, with no national-issue motions imposed from outside Cornwall.

What conduct cases involve Reform UK Cornwall councillors?

Cornwall Council's standards process has recorded multiple code-of-conduct cases involving Reform UK councillors since May 2025. Two are substantively serious: Cllr Peter Channon (Hayle West) — upheld breach following a complaint by the Hayle Town Clerk about disrespectful and slanderous conduct; and Cllr Steve Trevelyan (Roche & Bugle) — breach found and referred for formal censure following mocking and insulting social-media remarks about a resident's speeding concerns. Most other cases ended in no breach. None have been reported on by news media.

Sources & methodology#

This investigation draws on local newspaper reporting (Tindle group: Cornish Times, Voice, The Post, Holsworthy Today), Cornwall Reports, CornishStuff, ITV News West Country, BBC Cornwall, GB News, Hits Radio / Hello Rayo Cornwall, Radio Newquay, Yahoo / Cornwall Live, Left Foot Forward, The London Economic, The New World, East Devon Watch, Dorset Eye, Byline Times, MarkPack, Companies House, Cornwall Council's own democracy.cornwall.gov.uk records, and Cornwall Political Watch's own dossier research. Every concrete claim above is linked to its source inline.

Methodology. All factual claims about resignations, defections, by-elections and leadership changes are sourced to a published article, a Cornwall Council record, or — for the Highwayman recording — the recording itself. Allegations made by named individuals (e.g. WhatsApp instructions, internal bullying complaints) are clearly attributed to the speaker and not asserted as fact. Names appearing only in Cornwall Political Watch's own dossier research are sectioned separately and flagged in-line.

Audio recording. The original recording from The Highwayman, Dobwalls, on 18 October 2025 is in Cornwall Political Watch's possession and embedded above. The same recording was supplied anonymously by email to the Cornwall Local Democracy Reporting Service in October 2025; subsequent reporting in Cornwall Live, Yahoo, Dorset Eye and others derives from that same artefact.