Illustration: Cornwall Political Watch · AI-assisted
Reform UK Cornwall defections
Cornwall councillors who have left the Reform UK group since the May 2025 elections, in chronological order. Reform won 28 seats on Cornwall Council on 1 May 2025; by 21 May 2026 the group stood at 21 — nine councillors gone (one died in office), partly offset by two by-election gains.
Related coverage
- Full investigation: Reform UK in Cornwall: The Twelve-Month Collapse
- Command chain & Highwayman recording: Reform UK in Cornwall — investigation
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 · Read resignation speech → |
 | 22–23 April 2026 | Susanne Desmonde | Pool & Tehidy | Backbencher | Independent Non-Aligned |
 | 21 May 2026 | Jamie Hanlon | Penwithick & Boscoppa | Backbencher | Stand Alone Independent |
Some councillors appear more than once — e.g. Rob Parsonage left Reform, joined CING, then defected to the Conservatives, three parties in nine months. The table records each move separately so the chronology stays intact.
Source
Each defection is independently sourced — see the full collapse investigation at /reform-uk/collapse for inline citations. Updated as new defections occur.