YET another Reform UK councillor at Cornwall Council has left the party, meaning the group is now down to 20 councillors from an original 28 elected last May.

The move by Cllr Susanne Desmonde – to become an Independent Non-Aligned councillor, as currently listed on the council’s website – comes just a day after Reform’s deputy leader in Cornwall, Cllr Roger Tarrant, announced dramatically at a council meeting that he had resigned from the party and was now representing former Reform MP Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain party.

These latest developments come after five Reform councillors quit the group in October 2025, citing interference from the national party.

That split saw the then-leader and deputy leader of the Reform group, Cllr Rob Parsonage and Cllr Rowland O’Connor, resign to form the new Cornish Independent Non-aligned Group. Cllr Parsonage has since defected again, this time to the Tories.

Another Reform UK councillor, Kevin Towill, died in February. A by-election for his Newquay Porth and Tretherras seat takes place today (Thursday, April 23).

We have contacted Cllr Desmonde – who represents Pool and Tehidy – to ask why she has decided to resign from Reform UK.

The Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, Ben Maguire, has warned that Reform UK on Cornwall Council is “descending into chaos for the second time in less than a year” following the latest defections.