Reform Devon county councillors reported to police by colleague
The Reform UK party won 18 seats in the Devon County Council elections held on 1 May - becoming the second biggest party on the council behind the Liberal Democrats.Neil Stevens won the Alphington and Cowick seat with 1,126 votes - 72 votes ahead of the Labour candidate Yvonne Atkinson, with the Liberal Democrats a close third on 1,030 votes.In county council elections, spending limits are set in each ward according to the number of voters.In Alphington and Cowick the limit was set at £1,827.04 - however the election expenditure return papers for Stevens show he spent £1,995.72.Hill was previously the election agent for Stevens but papers seen by the BBC show Sheridan was appointed as election agent on 3 June, a day before the election expenses forms were submitted.Hill also alleges that a £250 podcast recording expense claimed by Tony Stevens, who won his Exwick and St Thomas seat by 22 votes, should be split equally between the brothers - further raising the expenditure of Neil Stevens.Hill said he reported his concerns relating to Sheridan and Neil and Tony Stevens to the police and to the Electoral Commission on 1 June.He said he had made "a clear promise to the people of Exeter" to "hold our candidates and councillors to the same high standards we expect of others".A spokesman from the national Reform UK party told the BBC: "Ed Hill has been removed as chairman of Reform UK Exeter after bringing the party into disrepute."There's currently an ongoing internal investigation into the matter so we won't be commenting further."
Neil Stevens told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he believed the spending limit only related to the money he had personally contributed to his campaign – £1,703.60 – and not to donations of £292.12 he received, meaning he believed he was below the spending limit.Sheridan told the LDRS he was "confident" there were no errors and that third parties had checked them.He added further checks to the returns were now being made, and if there had been an error, then an amended return would be filed.
Exceeding limits on candidate expenses can lead to an unlimited fine, while making a false declaration attracts the same punishment and/or up to six months in prison for a less serious summary conviction, or up to 12 months on indictment, according to the College of Policing.A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said the spending limit applied "to all spending during the regulated period in the run up to the local elections" including any personal money spent and donations received. It said: "Any allegations of spending over the limit would be a matter for the police."Devon and Cornwall Police did not respond to requests for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Corbyn's new party and the menace of populism
The upcoming launch of a new party by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana (Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana agree to launch leftwing party, 24 July) will inevitably prompt questions about whether this will divide the progressive vote or offer a genuine alternative to Labour's centrist drift, especially as the Green party continues to grow as a principled voice for environmental and social justice. Although these projects are potential rivals, they need not be. If the disturbing rise of rightwing populism is to be successfully confronted, the left must overcome fragmentation and find ways to coexist and collaborate. The Corbyn-Sultana initiative and the Greens share much common ground: a rejection of austerity, commitment to democratic reform and a belief in economic and ecological justice. Their differences in emphasis, tone and priorities are real but not irreconcilable. There has to be scope for a non-aggression pact at the next general election, with each party standing aside in constituencies where the other has a better chance of success. Joint campaigning on core issues – such as proportional representation, protest rights, wealth taxes and a green new deal – could amplify their impact, and framing climate action as central to economic justice, not separate from it, could provide a unifying narrative for both. This is not about merging or blurring identities. It is about strategic and political maturity. If the left cannot cooperate when so much is at stake, it will surrender the field to those who thrive on division and fear. Unity does not require uniformity; it requires courage and purpose. The worse case, of a public war of words and clashing candidacies between the Greens and Corbynites, would demoralise voters and hand the initiative to the populist CosgroveChapel Lawn, Shropshire Your report quotes Labour party sources who are dismissive of the threat from Jeremy Corbyn and then bluntly states that Corbyn 'lost the 2017 and 2019 elections as party leader'. It would have provided a fairer context if you had pointed out that in 2017, the Corbyn-led Labour party achieved 2.5m more votes (and a 6% higher vote share) than Keir Starmer did in 2024. Even in 2019, 500,000 more people voted for Corbyn's party than Starmer's. Dr Chris MorrisKidderminster, Worcestershire In the winter election of 2019 I spent hours leafleting for Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party. The sensation of cold and wet letterboxes still lingers on my fingertips when I think of what he said in an Observer article just after the election – that Labour had lost the election but won the argument. This is all Mr Corbyn is interested in doing – winning the argument – and indeed I think he will find that is all he ever will ArmstrongChester Thank you to Jeremy Corbyn for still caring enough and having the humanity to rally the 99% to join together and put 40 years of neoliberal theft and exploitation behind us. I support all his domestic policies, but the realpolitik of foreign policy bothers me. How would he deal with Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu?Pamela HopeKingston upon Thames, London Oh, Jeremy Corbyn, why splinter the left further by creating a new party when the Greens already actively stand and work for all you want to fight for?Sushila DhallOxford Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
SNP approves giant wind farm despite backlash from Trump and RSPB
One of the world's largest offshore wind farms has been given the green light by the SNP only days after Donald Trump warned that 'ugly' turbines were destroying Scotland's beauty and seabirds. Scottish ministers gave consent to the Berwick Bank project, off the coast of East Lothian, where developers SSE Renewables want to construct up to 307 900ft-high turbines. On a windy day, the project aims to generate enough electricity to power every home in Scotland twice over and around 17pc of residences across the UK. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, welcomed the decision, and the Government said enough offshore wind farms had now been approved to meet green targets. But the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it was a 'very dark day' for seabirds in the area, over concerns tens of thousands will be killed by the turbines. It warned that the wind farm lies close to Bass Rock, the world's largest gannet colony, and to the Isle of May, a national nature reserve that is home to a large colony of puffins, plus terns, gulls and many migratory species. The charity said that the 'terrible decision' would make it easier to get planning permission for other offshore wind farms in the area and this could 'catapult' some species 'towards extinction'. The announcement came only three days after Mr Trump used a visit to Scotland to warn that wind farms were 'destroying the beauty' of the country's fields and waterways. Calling them 'ugly monsters' that produced 'the most expensive form of energy', the US president claimed he had limited the construction of 'windmills' in the US because they ' kill all your birds.' The Scottish Government's own assessment estimated that the project will kill 261 gannets, 815 kittiwakes, 2808 guillemots, 66 puffins and 154 razorbills per year throughout the 35-year lifetime of the development. SNP ministers said their decision to approve the scheme was subject to SSE Renewables producing a detailed seabird 'compensation plan' outlining how any 'adverse impacts' would be tackled. This will have to be rubber-stamped before construction of the turbines starts. But RSPB Scotland said it was unclear how the 'compensation plan' would make up for thousands of seabirds being killed by the turbines. Anne McCall, the charity's director, said: 'This is a very dark day for seabirds. It is a terrible decision on a really bad development. 'Berwick Bank would be catastrophic for Scotland's globally important seabirds which are already facing alarming declines. 'We are incredibly concerned that [the] Scottish Government have granted consent for a project which could catapult some of Scotland's most-loved seabird species towards extinction.' Diarmid Hearns, the National Trust for Scotland's interim director of conservation and policy, said the decision was 'deeply disappointing'. 'More than that, we fear it will also be the cause of significant harm to the seabird colonies of St Abb's Head national nature reserve and elsewhere on the coastline,' he added. Kate Forbes, the Deputy First Minister, said: 'The decision to grant consent to Berwick Bank is a major step in Scotland's progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy.' She added: 'We will continue to work closely with the developer and key stakeholders, including those working in fishing and conservation – to minimise the impact of the development on the marine environment and other marine users – and balance the needs of people and nature.' Mr Miliband said: 'We welcome this decision, which puts us within touching distance of our offshore wind targets to deliver clean power by 2030 – boosting our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. 'We need to take back control of our energy and more offshore wind getting the green light marks a huge step forward in Britain's energy security and getting bills down for good.' Mr Miliband wants between 43GW and 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, with only 16GW operational so far. The Berwick Bank project would deliver an additional 4.1 GW. That would bring the generating capacity of consented wind farms in the planning pipeline to 28GW – enough to meet Mr Miliband's target if they are all built. SSE Renewables said the project has the potential to create 9,300 direct and indirect jobs in the UK at 'peak construction', around 4,650 of which would be in Scotland. Stephen Wheeler, the firm's managing director, said: 'Berwick Bank has the potential to rapidly scale-up Scotland's operational renewable energy capacity and can accelerate the delivery of home-grown, affordable and secure clean energy to UK consumers from Scottish offshore wind, helping meet the UK's clean power ambition by 2030.' Before his first term as president, Mr Trump lost a long-running battle at Holyrood and in the courts to prevent the construction of turbines off the coast of his golf resort in Aberdeenshire. Although energy policy is decided by the UK Government, ministers at Holyrood have control over planning, including final say over which schemes get the green light.
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
BBC News quiz of the week: What did South Park do to annoy Trump?
This week saw US President Donald Trump visit Scotland, the Lionesses play against Spain in the Euro 2025 final, and the UK get its first female Astronomer how much attention did you pay to what else happened in the world over the past seven days?Quiz collated by George Sandeman and Grace Dean. Fancy testing your memory? Try last week's quiz, or have a go at something from the archives.
