Isle of Wight Reform UK councillor resigns after four months

A newly elected Reform UK councillor has resigned his seat after coming under pressure over non-attendance.

On Thursday, Conservative councillor Paul Brading said David Maclean should “consider his position” after failing to attend three meetings of the island children’s services committee.

Reform said Mr Maclean had stepped down from the authority for “personal reasons”.

Previously, the party said he had been dealing with a serious illness in the family.

Mr Maclean was not present at the 2 May by-election count where he won his Lake North seat or his initiation ceremony at County Hall.

At the time, the Local Democracy Reporting Service was told by Reform’s press office his absences were due to a family illness.

On Thursday, the island’s other Reform councillor, Caroline Gladwin, told the children’s services meeting she would probably be taking over from him on the committee.

Reform seized control of nine English authorities in May’s local elections, winning 677 of around 1,600 seats contested.

Since then, newly elected Reform councillors have stepped down in other councils including Doncaster, Durham, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.