North Shropshire Reform councillor 'not moving back to France' party insists

Along with Carl Rowley, Brian Evans won a seat in the St Martins division at last week’s local elections in which the Liberal Democrats took control of the council and Reform became the second-largest party.

During the election campaign, the Reform Party UK Exposed page posted on X (formerly Twitter) that, if elected, Councillor Evans, who also serves as the chair of the North Shropshire Reform UK branch, would be a councillor for five months before heading back to his home in Brittany, France.

However, the party has denied this, stating that Councillor Evans will be staying in Shropshire and is aiming to have a high attendance rate at council meetings.

“Brian Evans has taken up his responsibilities in Shropshire Council and will continue to do so as an elected representative to solve Shropshire’s problems as part of the 16 elected Reform councillors, making Reform the official opposition in Shropshire,” said a spokesperson.

“The 16 elected Reform candidates, along with thousands of electors across Shropshire, will be watching the Liberal Democrats to see if they can actually improve Shropshire for its taxpayers rather than just follow the Labour playbook and blame the Conservatives.”

Councillor Rowley came top in the St Martins division with 700 votes, followed by Councillor Evans, who had 626. However, because the seat has two councillors, both were elected.

Talking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service afterwards, Councillor Evans said: “We are very pleased for ourselves, for the party and the people of St Martins who’ve shown such faith in us to represent them.

“There are many issues like in a lot of Shropshire. We will be looking at all of them, especially in the farming community, but also in the urban areas.

“We’ve got a lot to do, but will be getting to work early next week and look forward to seeing the people of St Martins.”