John Bailey resigns as Reform UK councillor in County Durham

Confirmation of former Easington and Shotton member John Bailey standing down was delivered on Monday, as his councillor profile page was removed from Durham County Council’s website. 

Reform UK won all three of the available seats within the East Durham ward during May’s ballot. Mr Bailey came top with 1,849 votes ahead of party colleagues Howard Brown and Louise Taylor. 

The ward was resized as part of boundary changes ahead of the election, and meant three incumbent councillors – Chris Hood, Angela Surtees and Ivan Cochrane – were voted out.

Reform secured a landslide victory across County Durham at the May elections, gaining 65 seats. 

However, Mr Bailey is the second Reform UK county councillor to have resigned in County Durham, just over a month after the local election.  

A party spokesman said: “We are deeply saddened to learn of Mr Bailey’s resignation as a result of a serious health issue. 

“We are immensely grateful for him stepping forward to make a difference in his community. 

“We wish John and his family the very best during this difficult time.”

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Mr Bailey previously represented the Liberal Democrats but resigned from the party in 2009 due to “irreconcilable differences” and later represented the former Crook North ward as an Independent. 

A by-election is expected to be held for the vacancy later this summer. 

The latest resignation comes after former Reform member Andrew Kilburn resigned for failing to declare that he was employed by the local authority.