Doncaster Council: Reform UK secures unplanned full council meeting to re-appoint committee chairs

Reform UK have secured an extraordinary meeting of the City of Doncaster Council in attempts to regain control of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee (OSMC).

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands the meeting, scheduled for October 23, 2025, will see the party nominate new chairs and vice-chairs of various council committees.

A group spokesperson declined to comment on their exact plans for the meeting, including on who they would be nominating to chair key committees.

Doncaster Council: Reform UK secures unplanned full council meeting to re-appoint committee chairs, Doncaster Free Press

Reform expels councillor over ‘inappropriate’ posts

A city councillor in Doncaster has been expelled from Reform UK over historic social media posts deemed “unacceptable” by party leaders.

Mark Broadhurst, who had been in post for just four weeks, will sit as an independent councillor after the party’s decision to withdraw the whip on Thursday.

Councillor Guy Aston, Reform UK group leader, said the decision was a result of “inappropriate social media activity that does not reflect our values or standards: family, community, country.”

A Facebook page belonging to Broadhurst shared a post comparing black Islamic dress to “bin bags”, and a now-deleted image which suggested Adolf Hitler would have been a “legend” if he had targeted Muslims.

Reform expels councillor over ‘inappropriate’ posts, BBC

Reform quizzed over councillor’s Facebook posts

Reform UK has refused to answer questions about a new Doncaster councillor whose Facebook account featured posts comparing black Islamic dress to bin bags.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) approached the party after a number of posts on a Facebook account belonging to Councillor Mark Broadhurst went viral along with calls to “suspend him”.

The LDRS had asked whether the posts – including a since deleted image which suggested Adolf Hitler would be a “legend” had he targeted people following Islam – were acceptable to the party.

A Reform UK spokesperson said the party would not be commenting on questions submitted by the LDRS.

Reform quizzed over councillor’s Facebook posts, BBC