Reform UK Regional Director, South West England
Last updated: ~11 min read
Paul Mills is the Devon-based Reform UK Regional Director who, the party said, was the only person able to appoint a chairman to the Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch — where Cornwall's most contested branch chairman was appointed over local member objections by October 2025. As Regional Director for the South West, he is the interface between Reform UK's national leadership and the local branches and county organisers on the ground in Cornwall and Devon. He was the named recipient of formal bullying complaints from then-South East Cornwall branch chair Curtis Mellows — complaints Mellows said were not acted on. Mills holds no seat on Cornwall Council; he directs Reform UK's Cornwall operations from outside the county.
| Name | Paul Mills |
| Role | Regional Director, South West England, Reform UK |
| Status | Party official — not a Cornwall councillor |
| Location | Black Torrington, Devon |
| Date of Birth | March 1962 (per Companies House) |
| Companies House | Officer record |
As Regional Director for the South West, Mills holds significant structural power over Reform UK's Cornish organisation. He is the interface between the party's national leadership in London and the local branches and county organisers on the ground in Cornwall and Devon. Directives flow downward through the chain — from Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf through national campaign manager Graham Young and national director Adam Bounds to regional directors like Mills, who then pass instructions to county organisers and branch chairs.
Crucially, according to the party, Mills is the sole appointing authority for branch chairmen in non-fully-constituted branches under its branch rules. This is the rule the party relied on to defend the most controversial branch appointment in Cornwall:
A branch is not fully constituted until it proves it is fully functional. During this period, only the Regional Director can appoint the branch chairman. Once fully constituted, the branch must hold a Special General Meeting at which members elect the chairman and committee.— Summary of the branch rules as Reform UK described them to Cornwall Live, 11 November 2025
The rule is consequential because it gives the Regional Director the power to install branch chairs without member input for as long as the branch remains classified as “not fully constituted” — a classification the party itself controls. The branch-restructuring programme Mills has overseen as Regional Director is the same one Roger Tarrant's April 2026 resignation speech attacked as the dismantling of local branches and the appointment of “unelected interim officers” without councillor consultation.
November 2025
By October 2025, Nathan Michell had been appointed chairman of the Camborne, Redruth & Hayle (CRH) branch (first reported in November 2025) — a decision that triggered a wave of member complaints, anonymous briefings to the press, and contributed to the broader collapse of Reform UK Cornwall. Members objected that Michell was "unknown and unelected" and had been parachuted in without a vote. The party defended it by saying the branch was not fully constituted, so that under its rules only the regional director, Paul Mills, could appoint a branch chairman (Cornwall Live, 11 November 2025).
Under Reform UK branch rules, a branch is not fully constituted until it proves it is fully functional. During this period, only the Regional Director can appoint the branch chairman. Once fully constituted, the branch must hold a Special General Meeting at which members elect the chairman and committee.
“There have been multiple protests by the branch members around the removal of our popular and successful previous chairman, and the parachuting in of an unknown and unelected person without an extraordinary general meeting or annual general meeting which would have allowed a democratic vote.”— Anonymous Reform CRH branch member, Cornwall Live, November 2025
“The Camborne, Redruth and Hayle (CRH) branch is not a fully constituted branch. As per the branch rules, this means that only the regional director (Paul Mills) can appoint a branch chairman. The CRH branch will become fully constituted once it proves it is fully functional as a branch, as is the standard process for the formation of all Reform UK branches across the country.”— Reform UK national spokesperson, November 2025
Nathan Michell — appointed to replace Roger Tarrant — is the subject of a separate investigation. For the chronological account of how the wider Cornwall group has collapsed since the May 2025 election, see The Collapse.
Curtis Mellows — then chair of the Reform UK South East Cornwall branch and later suspended from the party — made formal bullying complaints about fellow Reform members in Cornwall to party officials. Mellows said these complaints were not dealt with by regional or national figures, and specifically named the regional office as having received them. He was subsequently suspended from the party after making allegedly offensive comments about Prince Harry on social media. As Regional Director for the South West, Mills was the regional authority to whom complaints from a Cornish branch chair would have been escalated.
“I wouldn't let the bullying drop and I kept on and on and on about it. They've obviously decided to get rid of me, which is fine.”— Curtis Mellows, The Guardian, November 2025
Cornwall Political Watch reports Mellows's account of the complaints as Mellows described it. We do not assert as fact that Mills personally received, mishandled, or ignored those complaints — only that Mellows said the complaints went to the regional office, and that no public action followed. Mills has not, to our knowledge, publicly responded.
Mills is the director and Person with Significant Control of Kenold Limited (Co. No. 06213921), incorporated in April 2007. The company operates a self-catering holiday-letting business at Hole Farm, Black Torrington, Devon — a Grade II* Listed medieval longhouse with two converted units, the Milking Parlour and the Threshing Barn. The business is publicly marketed via the Milking Parlour Hole Facebook page and the self-cateringindevon.co.uk directory.
Image from the public Milking Parlour Hole Facebook page promoting the holiday-letting business.
| Company No. | 06213921 |
| Role | Director and Person with Significant Control |
| Appointed | 16 April 2007 |
Operates self-catering holiday accommodation at Hole Farm, Black Torrington — a Grade II* Listed medieval Devon longhouse with two converted letting units (the Milking Parlour, sleeps 4; and the Threshing Barn, sleeps 2). Marketed publicly via the Milking Parlour Hole Facebook page and self-cateringindevon.co.uk. Filing dormant accounts means the company told Companies House it had no significant transactions in the year — it does not mean the company has been closed.
Dormant accounts made up to 30 April 2025, filed 28 January 2026; confirmation statement made up to 16 April 2026. Nothing overdue.
| Company No. | 05554390 |
| Role | Director and Person with Significant Control — sole active officer |
| Appointed | 5 September 2005 |
Registered at 38 Eton Wick Road, Windsor, rather than at Hole Farm. Mills has been its only serving officer since the company secretary resigned in September 2014, and he is its sole registered person with significant control. The company remains active on the register; it is its filings that are late.
Accounts have been overdue since 30 June 2025 and the confirmation statement since 23 September 2025 — both more than a year late as at 4 October 2026. The last accounts filed were micro-entity accounts made up to 30 September 2023. Companies House gave notice of compulsory strike-off in the Gazette on 26 August 2025; the action was suspended on 10 September 2025 and the register still shows a proposal to strike off.
| Company No. | 03428514 |
| Role | Director and Person with Significant Control — serving, not former |
| Appointed | 3 September 1997 |
A consulting engineering company incorporated in 1997 and originally run from Berkshire. Its registered office is now Hole Farm, Beaworthy — the same address as Kenold — so it moved to Devon with him rather than being left behind. Mills has never resigned the directorship: he has served continuously since incorporation, and the company was still filing accounts in 2025.
Dormant accounts made up to 30 September 2025, filed 29 June 2026; confirmation statement made up to 3 September 2026, filed 18 September 2026. Nothing overdue.
As Regional Director, Mills sits at the centre of the Cornish Reform UK web. The Cornwall collapse — ten of the 28 elected councillors gone in fifteen months, nine of them by leaving the party — happened on his watch.
| Person | Role | Connection to Mills |
|---|---|---|
| Nathan Michell | Appointed chair, Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch (by October 2025) | Parachuted in as CRH branch chairman over member objections (reported November 2025); the party said only Mills, as regional director, could appoint a chairman to the not-yet-constituted branch. The appointment — bypassing any member vote — became the flashpoint of the wider Reform UK Cornwall collapse. |
| Roger Tarrant | Former CRH chair; Deputy Leader, Reform UK Cornwall group | Removed as CRH branch chairman against members' wishes around the same time he was elevated to Deputy Leader of the Cornwall Reform group. Branch members cited the contradictory treatment as evidence of top-down management of unaccountable figures. Defected to Restore Britain on 21 April 2026 — Cornwall's first Restore Britain councillor; Cllr Bruce Craze became its second on 29 July 2026. |
| Curtis Mellows | Former chair, South East Cornwall branch | Made formal bullying complaints to the regional office that Mellows said went unaddressed. Subsequently suspended from the party after social-media comments about Prince Harry. The pattern — complainant becomes the punished party — was raised publicly by Mellows before his suspension. |
| Andrea Lovett | Campaign Manager & County Organiser, Cornwall | Reports to Mills in the Reform UK chain of command. Reform UK's Cornwall Campaign Manager and County Organiser. |
| Alison Groves | County Organiser (West Cornwall) at the time of the October 2025 recording | On the Highwayman pub recording (October 2025), Groves supposes it "must have been Paul Mills" who decided to put Nathan Michell in place — saying she had "never met" him. |
| Rob Parsonage | Former leader, Reform UK Cornwall Council group | Resigned as group leader and left the party after the Highwayman pub row. Mellows had reportedly warned the regional office that Parsonage was unsuitable for the role; the warnings were not publicly heeded. Defected to the Conservative Party in February 2026 — three parties in nine months. |
Selected as Brexit Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Torridge & West Devon. Never stood — Brexit Party withdrew from Conservative-held seats ahead of the December 2019 general election.
Incorporates Kenold Limited (Co. No. 06213921) at Hole Farm, Black Torrington — the holding company for the self-catering holiday business.
The Highwayman pub row in Dobwalls. Recording released later that month names Mills as the figure directing branch reorganisation in Cornwall from outside the county.
Nathan Michell is appointed chairman of the Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch over local member objections; the party says only the regional director (Mills) can appoint a chairman to a branch not yet fully constituted. Cornwall Live publishes member complaints; The Guardian publishes its account of the wider Cornwall Reform collapse.
Curtis Mellows publicly says his bullying complaints were not acted on by the regional office. He is suspended from the party shortly after.
These articles cover events in which Paul Mills was a named or implicated figure. Most are framed around the elected councillors involved; Mills is rarely the named subject in headlines, but the events — branch appointments, defections, the Cornwall group's collapse — fall within his regional remit.
cornwalllive.com
Reform UK accused of 'doing nothing' at Cornwall Council by other councillors - Cornwall Live
Opposition councillors accuse Cornwall Council's Reform UK group of inactivity after failing to fully form a shadow cabinet eighteen months post-election, which leader Paul Ashton denies.
cornwalllive.com
Mylor harbour 'illegal migrants' boat - MP and councillors react - Cornwall Live
Devon and Cornwall Police and the Home Office arrested several individuals, including two Albanian men, after a boat reportedly carrying migrants landed at Mylor Harbour.
cornwalllive.com
'Wind your necks in' councillors told over Reform UK resignations - Cornwall Live
Cornwall Council debated repeated reallocations of committee seats after several Reform UK councillors defected to other political groups, prompting a heated exchange between members.
cornwalllive.com
Reform UK councillor defends Facebook posts following complaints - Cornwall Live
Reform UK councillor Steve Trevelyan has defended controversial Facebook posts, including calling police "piggy bank" and using crude insults, after multiple complaints.
cornwalllive.com
By-election demand after Cornwall councillor jumps ship from Reform to Restore Britain - Cornwall Live
A Cornwall councillor's defection from Reform UK to Restore Britain has prompted a rival councillor to demand he resign and trigger a by-election.
cornwalllive.com
Cornwall Council is now £1.5 billion in debt - Cornwall Live
Cornwall Council faces £1.5 billion debt and a £22 million budget shortfall, prompting managers to find savings ahead of next year's budget.
Coverage from cornwalllive.com, devonlive.com, plymouthherald.co.uk. May not be exhaustive.
This investigation draws on publicly available records: Companies House filings, Cornwall Live, The Guardian, BBC News, Hello Rayo, and the publicly accessible Milking Parlour Hole Facebook page. No private or restricted databases were accessed. Where Mills has not publicly responded, we have flagged that fact.
| Source | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cornwall Live — Reform UK accused of parachuting unelected chairman | November 2025 report: branch members object to the CRH appointment. |
| The Guardian — When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall | 16 November 2025 long-read covering the Cornwall collapse. |
| Hello Rayo — Reform UK deputy leader in Cornwall defects to Restore Britain | April 2026 reporting on continued departures from the group. |
| BBC News — Cornwall Council Reform UK group leader stands down | October 2025 report on the resignation of Rob Parsonage. |
| Western Morning News — More than 60 councillors have left Reform over the past year | 6 May 2026 long-read. Unnamed senior Reform sources describe how councillors placed in senior positions in Cornwall came under "unmanageable pressure from members and HQ to deliver change" — the regional pressure dynamic at the level Mills operates. |
| Black Torrington Parish Council — minutes, March 2021 | Earliest minutes online recording Cllr P Mills as a member of the council. |
| Black Torrington Parish Council — minutes, 2022 | Cllr Mills chairs meetings after no chair is elected at the May 2022 annual meeting; declares an interest in planning application 1/0415/2022/AGMB and absents himself for that item. A later 2022 application, 1/0995/2022/FUL, is made "in lieu of" that approval and gives the location as "Agricultural Building At Hole Farm, Highampton". |
| Black Torrington Parish Council — minutes, January 2025 | Latest minutes online recording him as a councillor (apologies received from Councillor P Mills). |
| Companies House — Kenold Limited (06213921) | Director and PSC record. Incorporated April 2007. Registered office at Hole Farm, Black Torrington, Devon. |
| Companies House — Paul Mills officer profile | Search Paul Mills on Companies House to view the full director appointment history. |
| self-cateringindevon.co.uk — Hole Farm, Black Torrington | Public marketing listing for the Milking Parlour and Threshing Barn holiday units. |
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