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North Wales Live
05-08-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Live
Councillor slams Reform before being accused of 'sour grapes'
An Old Colwyn councillor cancelled his membership with Reform, claiming he was 'disillusioned' by former Tories joining and 'tainting' Nigel Farage's party with their legacy. But Reform has described Cllr David Carr's criticism as 'sour grapes' claiming the party rejected his attempt to officially sign up as a councillor—a claim the Old Colwyn member denies. In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Carr also took aim at the Conservative Party, which he claimed provided weak opposition to Conwy 's First Independent, Labour and Plaid Cymru coalition. The war of words follows Llandudno former Conservative councillors Louise Emery and Tom Montgomery jumping ship to Reform UK last week. In the days that followed, it also emerged that Cllr Carr, an independent councillor, was also a member of Reform. The fall out continued when Cllr Goronwy Edwards resigned from his cabinet position and was 'removed' from the First Independent Group for not declaring membership of another party. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox. Cllr Carr, though, said he left Reform on Wednesday after being a member since June, claiming he was unhappy Cllr Emery was presented as the party's Conwy leader. 'I left Reform yesterday (Wednesday). I wasn't a member for very long,' he said. 'I thought this was a new way forward, and it seems the Conservatives moved in. Cllr Louise Emery, she was deputy leader (of Conwy County Council) when they put the council tax up. She initiated the working from home. The four-weekly bin collections – she went along with that. Whether Cllr Emery believed in them (the policies) or not, she went along with them. 'The first thing they should have done is become independents and then apply to join Reform. But the way they did it, it's so obvious they are worried about their seats. Cllr Emery only won by a handful of votes the last time. They were both worried about their seats. 'It was more Louise (Cllr Emery), not so much Tom (Cllr Montgomery). He's not so tainted by the past. She was deputy leader and all the things she's done, chair of local Conservatives, all things I don't agree with, and all of a sudden, she's a member of Reform. 'You've got to put new people in. Everyone is fed up with the same old councillors, aren't they? I did speak to Louise, but she didn't seem very enthusiastic. I sent an email and expressed concerns. None of this is personal. If people want to join (Reform), that's fair enough, but for her to take a leading position… 'That is the most annoying thing. Nigel Farage said, 'We will not be a home for Conservatives who want to keep their seats' – of course that's what's happened. I was hoping new people would come along and things would change because my residents are fed up with filthy streets. They are fed up of council tax increasing year on year. 'I was excited to join Reform. I was enthusiastic that something was going to change, but when it is the same old Conservatives, I don't want to be part of it, so I decided to leave. If it's going to be the Conservatives again, it doesn't inspire confidence.' But Reform claims Cllr Carr's comments are nothing more than 'sour grapes'. In an official response issued by Reform UK, Cllr Louise Emery spoke on behalf of the Conwy group. 'David Carr was a Conservative member; he then joined the Labour Party seemingly to get elected in 2022,' she said. 'He then left the Labour Party and became an independent. He then joined the Liberal Democrats. Then left them to join Reform. All in three years.' She added: 'Our understanding is that David applied to be approved to be a Reform Councillor, and he was rejected by the vetting process. This is nothing more than sour grapes from a councillor desperately searching for a way of getting re-elected. We joined Reform because we believe in real change for the future.' Despite being a Reform member, Cllr Carr denied he attempted to become a Reform councillor. He responded: 'I did not apply to be a reform councillor. The vetting process takes five or six weeks. They said they were overwhelmed with the Senedd vetting for Senedd candidates. I never had any interests in becoming a Reform councillor. ' 'I just joined because I was quite enthusiastic about the things they were saying. I was quite happy to be just a member. I thought new people were going to come in, not tainted by the past. But it seems it is the same old Conservatives again. It's put me off.' Cllr Carr, a former long-standing Conservative, maintains he was not a member of any political party between 2018 and 2022 until, he said, he was asked to stand for Labour in May 2022. He said he left Labour in September 2022, disagreeing with their manifesto. Whilst remaining an independent councillor, he said he joined the Liberal Democrats in July 2024 as he 'liked their social care policies' before leaving in May 2025. Still independent, he said he then joined Reform in June 2025 and left on July 30. Cllr Carr also took aim at the Conwy Conservative Group. 'The Conservatives don't provide any opposition on Conwy Council,' he said. 'I seem to be the opposition on Conwy. It's hard when you are on your own. They went along with all the things that council managers wanted for all those years, and now she (Cllr Emery) pops up and says, 'Oh, I'm leader of Reform.' She wants change? People are asking the question: if you wanted change, you could have done it in the past. That's why I don't want to be a member. I was disillusioned when that happened.' Leader of Conwy's Conservative Group Cllr Cheryl Carlisle also responded to Cllr Carr's criticism. Cllr Carlisle also referred to Cllr Carr and his former affiliation with several political parties and groups. 'Cllr Carr is entitled to his opinions, but members of the public are able to watch online council and scrutiny meetings and will no doubt be able to form their own opinions as to the value of the Conwy Conservative group's voting record against exorbitant council tax rises and constant cutting of vital frontline services,' she said. She added: 'Hopefully Cllr Carr will find a party or political group that will finally accept him, having been a member of in excess of five groups in the three short years that he has been a councillor.' Public notices in your area
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LILLEY: Carney snaps at reporter over questions about China
China is an issue that won't leave Liberal Leader Mark Carney alone and it's clearly getting to him. On Thursday, he snapped at a reporter and disparaged a major daily newspaper for their coverage of his campaign and connections with China. 'Well, I'm sorry, but you can't believe everything you read in The Globe and Mail,' Carney said. His remarks were nasty in tone, he was snarky. He also seemed to be channeling Justin Trudeau who famously said, 'The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false.' Those words were in response to reporting in February 2019 that said Trudeau had tried to pressure his then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to drop a prosecution against SNC-Lavalin and when she wouldn't, he dropped her as attorney general. Despite Trudeau denying it, all of the allegations ended up being true, so it's a bad look for Carney to be reminding people of Trudeau and his lies. LILLEY: China launches interference campaign to help Carney China actively promoting Carney Liberal campaign: Election watchdog EDITORIAL: Of course China wants Carney for PM On Thursday, The Globe and Mail reported that Carney had met with executives from the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada. The JCCC is a Toronto-based group founded more than twenty years ago to ostensibly foster ties between China and Canada, but it is widely viewed as a front group for China's United Front Work Department. The UFWD works on behalf of the Chinese government in Beijing to, among other things, spy on and exert influence over the Chinese diaspora in places like Canada. Carney was angry in responding to the Globe reporter who asked about the meeting. 'I've never heard of this group, okay? Never heard of this group. Certainly didn't have a setup meeting with this group, full stop. So check your sources before you write things like that,' Carney said. Moments later, Steven Chase, one of the Globe reporters who wrote the original story, posted photos of Carney smiling and shaking hands with two different executives from the JCCC. Carney's defence, and there is some validity to it, is that he meets many people at events and takes lots of photos with people. 'I'm a politician. I go to events where there are hundreds and 1000s, you know, 1000s, over the course of a day, of different people there. That is not a meeting. If somebody happens to be in the room (and) takes a picture with me, that's not a meeting, okay?' Carney said. While that is a valid excuse for a grip-and-grin photo such as this, a courtesy I extend to all politicians, it's not an excuse the Liberals allow for when a Conservative politician is caught in the same situation. Clearly though, and you can hear it in his voice, you can pick up from his choice of words, the issue of China is getting to Carney. For the past two weeks, Carney and the Liberals have been dogged with bad stories relating to China and being too close to Beijing. Last week it was his candidate Paul Chiang encouraging people to kidnap Conservative candidate Joe Tay and hand him over to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto in exchange for a bounty. It took Carney four days to drop Chiang and replace him with Peter Yuen, who is now being accused of being associated with the JCCC and other pro-Beijing Chinese groups in Toronto. And, of course, this week the federal government's Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force, revealed a coordinated effort by the Chinese government to boost Mark Carney's appeal to Chinese Canadian voters. This included what was described as 'large spikes of coordinated inauthentic behaviour' where articles positive about Carney from Beijing-aligned media outlets were boosted on the WeChat social media platform by accounts and influencers with ties to the Chinese government. The goal, to boost Mark Carney in the eyes of Chinese Canadian voters. Basically, China is trying to persuade Chinese Canadians to vote Liberal. This came after the same tactics were used during the Liberal leadership campaign to attack and disparage Carney's main rival, Chrystia Freeland. Beijing is clearly still interfering in Canada's elections and Beijing clearly favours Mark Carney and the Liberals. Based on his reaction Thursday, it would appear Carney would really like these stories to go away or, at the very least, he wants people to stop asking about China. blilley@
