- Former Labour Newham council boss and Mayor Sir and ex-councillor Clive
Furness defect to Reform UK.
- Party confirms that Clive Furness has been selected as Reform
UK's candidate for Mayor of Newham.
- Sir Robin will take up the role of the party's London
Director of Local Government, advising Reform-led councils in
London after May.
today [Wednesday 4 March]
welcomed Sir , the former Labour Mayor of
Newham and ex-leader of Newham London Borough Council, along with
former Labour Newham councillor and cabinet member Clive Furness,
to Reform UK.
Sir Robin has been appointed as the party's London Director of
Local Government, while Clive Furness will serve as his senior
advisor and stand as Reform UK's candidate for Mayor of Newham.
With over a century of combined Labour Party membership, Sir
Robin and Mr Furness left the party over what they saw as an
abandonment of those that it was originally formed to stand for
and demonstrated an “outright disdain for working people”.
In his new role, Sir Robin will leverage his extensive London
local government expertise to advise Reform UK-controlled
councils following the May 7 elections, where the party is poised
to take control of several local authorities in the capital.
Reform UK's new London Director of Local Government Sir
said:
“After decades fighting for working people in Newham, I've seen
Labour abandon its roots. Under and the Labour leadership across
London, the capital has seen soaring crime, failing services, and
a party that prioritises the wealthy elite over the working class
it was built to represent.
“May will be a referendum on and the Labour Party. Only
Reform stands for working people and is presenting a real,
credible alternative plan to Labour in London.”
Reform UK's candidate for Mayor of Newham Clive
Furness
“Labour has clearly and demonstrably failed London. It's sad to
see that even Newham, a borough that Sir Robin and I managed to
lift out of deprivation, has gone completely backwards under a
Labour mayor and a Labour council that is now completely
out-of-touch with the communities it was meant to represent.
“That's why I am joining Reform UK. In May the choice is clear:
more of the same high crime, high tax regime with Labour, or real
change with Reform.”
Sir became Labour's first directly
elected mayor in England in 2002, securing re-elections in 2006,
2010, and 2014. Before that, he led Newham Council for seven
years from 1995 to 2002 and received a knighthood in the 2000
Birthday Honours for his services to local government. Clive
Furness served in various different executive posts in the
council, including Community, Finance, Health & Adult Care.
During their tenure, Newham Council achieved national acclaim,
ranking as the most popular council in the UK with 80% resident
satisfaction in 2018. Amid austerity, they froze council tax from
2008 to 2018, delivering the third-lowest average rate in the
country.
Their transformative record includes lifting Newham from the
third-most deprived London borough to the 25th by
2015, driven by a surge in local employment.
They also spearheaded a crackdown on crime, enforcing proactive
stop-and-search policies that slashed knife crime by two-thirds,
and deploying 40 dedicated police officers to combat street crime
and anti-social behaviour
Welcoming Sir Robin and Clive, Reform UK's London Mayoral
candidate Laila Cunningham said:
“Sir Robin and Clive are excellent additions to Reform UK in
London. Two heavyweight former Labour leaders with decades of
experience of delivering real results for working people in
London.
“Unlike Labour, we are building a team full of expertise and
experience who are laser-focused on making London work for
Londoners once again. May is the first step to dislodging Labour
and from our capital, and only
Reform stands a chance of delivering that credible alternative.”
Notes to editors:
