Worcestershire CC leader Jo Monk has been suspended by her party for “refusing to accept the democratic decision of the Reform UK group”.
Cllr Monk was removed as the group leader by her local party during an internal meeting last month.
A spokesperson from the national party office told LGC that Cllr Monk has now been suspended for “refusing to accept the democratic decision of the Reform UK group”.
Worcestershire has raised council tax by almost 9% and was granted £59.9m in principle exceptional financial support for 2026-27.
At that same meeting, former Conservative MP Alan Amos was appointed as her replacement.
He thanked Cllr Monk for her “hard work” and “taking the first steps to tackle the mess we inherited from the Conservatives and beginning to steady the ship.”
However it has been confirmed that Cllr Monk and her son Ashley Monk have since been suspended from Reform UK.
He posted on Facebook that he feels “no longer welcome” in Reform UK group “following my criticism” of the newly appointed leader.
He said he “refuses to be led” by Cllr Amos, adding: “I will never apologise for speaking out when I believe something is wrong. I was elected to represent residents, not to stay silent, look the other way, or put party politics before principles.”
However he added that his “political views and values still align with Reform UK despite this latest move” and he remains “committed to doing the job residents elected me to do, without fear, without favour, and without being silenced.”
Despite this, Cllr Monk will remain leader of the council until the full council meeting on Thursday.
The current political make up of the 57 councillors on Worcestershire CC is now as follows:
23 Reform UK
12 Conservative
eight Green
seven Liberal Democrats
five independent (including both Cllr Monks)
two Labour