An ITV undercover investigation into Reform UK has added an October wave of councillor exits to a drain that began in the summer. ITV placed a reporter in a press-office job at Reform UK's Westminster headquarters from January and aired clips of councillors from 14 October1. ITV says its footage shows councillors and candidates making racist, sexist and violent remarks; none of those allegations has been tested. Reform said it had opened investigations into members who "clearly behaved inappropriately", with suspensions in some cases. Richard Tice alleged the reporter used false details to get the job, said ITV had "likely broken the law" and told members to "refuse to speak to ITV in any capacity whatsoever until they apologise". None of Tice's claims has been tested.
Resignations followed the broadcasts. In Solihull, ITV reported on 15 October, council leader Karen Grinsell asked three Reform councillors to step down, and one, Chris Whelan, resigned from the council. No report seen by Lowdown says whether ITV's footage features Whelan. Pack's tracker records a second of the three, Alan Feeney, as having resigned as a councillor2. ITV attributes remarks in its footage to Feeney; like the others, that allegation has not been tested3. In Tameside, Raymond Dunning left the Reform group after ITV's investigation broadcast remarks it attributed to him about deporting people, the Tameside Correspondent reported4. Not every exit is tied to the footage. Danny Carr left the Tameside group on 19 October, citing how it is run locally. Jim McIlroy stood down as Reform group leader on the West Surrey shadow authority, the council elected to set up West Surrey's new unitary authority before it takes over, and left the group; the tracker gives no reason. Two Leeds councillors, suspended pending an inquiry whose subject Reform did not disclose, resigned to form Leeds First Independents.
The tracker of the party's May intake kept by the Liberal Democrat peer Mark Pack now holds 62 entries, against 30 in early September5. Some of those entries count one councillor twice, for sitting on two councils. Most of the summer's losses were councillors who kept their seats as independents. The two Solihull resignations put seats back before voters instead: a councillor who resigns forces a by-election, while one who switches party keeps the seat.
Voters added to the count. Labour took two council seats from Reform in October, one of them by 53 votes. In Shepshed, on Leicestershire County Council, Labour won on 15 October with 1,163 votes (32.8%) to Reform's 1,110 (31.3%)6. Restore Britain, the party Rupert Lowe founded to Reform's right, polled 228. Reform had won the electoral division on 45% at the 2025 county elections7. A week earlier Labour took Town ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme with 431 votes (46.2%) against Reform's 249 (26.7%)8. Reform's share there fell 0.4 points on May 2026, while Labour's rose 18.0 points and the Green and Conservative shares fell 9.2 and 4.3. In Amber Valley, the Green Party took a Conservative seat by 57 votes, with Reform second on 27.0% and Restore Britain on 10.8%.
In both October council by-elections where Restore Britain stood, Reform and Restore together outpolled the winner, as they had in Amble, Northumberland. That sum assumes Restore's voters would otherwise back Reform, and two wards make a small sample. YouGov's latest poll, taken before the clips aired, puts Reform third. One poll and two wards cannot yet show a trend, and none of these numbers shows why voters are moving.
