New political group set up by ex-Sheffield Reform councillors looks right and left for ideas
“Local politics is not about personalities, it’s about putting the people of Sheffield first”
Two ex-Reform members of Sheffield City Council have spoken about why they decided to set up their own group.
Councillors Mick Lee and Robert Hanson were both voted on to Sheffield City Council on May 7, when Reform UK won 12 seats in total.
Coun Lee left Reform initially to become an independent. The party nationally said in August that it had removed Coun Hanson as he was found not to be a member.
They have now joined forces to set up a new group, called New Chartist Reform Group, with leader Coun Lee who represents Shiregreen and Brightside and Coun Hanson representing the Firth Park ward.
Coun Lee describes himself as centre left and Coun Hanson said he is centre right but also quite socialist in his tendencies. The group name references the Chartists, a radical mass movement in the 19th century that fought to get democratic reform and the vote for working-class people.
“The Chartist movement did a lot for the people of the time,” said Coun Lee. “I wanted the name to be part of that.”
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Coun Hanson added in the word Reform. He said: “I do think Reform have some good ideas but I don’t think they’ve got the people to implement those ideas. The local leadership lets them down.”
Coun Hanson’s wife Kim was formerly chair of the Sheffield East branch of Reform UK, which has been riven with internal rows and disputes that have spilled out into the public realm.
She said she has also left the party. All three said they had experienced problems with the forceful leadership style of the head of Reform UK on the council, Coun John Hesketh.
Both councillors said they felt edged out of the group.
Coun Hanson said he considered stepping down altogether because of the stress and anxiety he experienced but Coun Lee persuaded him to set up a new group instead.
Mrs Hanson is playing a supporting role in the group, as she does for her husband. She acts as his personal assistant because Coun Hanson is blind.
Both councillors say they will fight for everyone in their local wards, regardless of their backgrounds. They insist they are not racially prejudiced.
They also see it as their job to represent anyone who comes to them with problems, regardless of how they voted.
“We’re not turning anyone away, we’ll talk to anyone,” said Coun Lee.
He added: “Local politics is not about personalities, it’s about putting the people of Sheffield first.
“We want to try and get things changed for the better for people of Sheffield. We want to promote disability issues with us both being disabled.”
They see anti-social behaviour as a key issue to be tackled in order to make people feel safe and restore pride in local areas.
Coun Hanson said: “It’s the broken windows theory. If you put a car in an area which is all run down with broken windows, it will be broken into within an hour.
“If you clean the streets up, nobody touches the car because they believe the car’s being watched.
“If we can deal with anti-social behaviour with a zero tolerance approach and deal with the small stuff, it has a knock-on effect.”
Coun Lee said they are aware that a group of two has little power to effect change on its own.
“We’ve got friends across the council and we’re making more friends, talking to people,” he said.