Fourth Tory North Northamptonshire councillor joins Reform, making party third biggest in authority

Burton and Broughton councillor Jan O’Hara has today (Monday, March 17) joined Cllrs Martin Griffiths, Ken Harrington and Kirk Harrison – all former Conservatives – in the growing Reform group.

It makes the group the third biggest in North Northamptonshire Council with four members.

The news came after Councillor O’Hara was de-selected as a candidate for the Conservative party for the forthcoming May local elections.

Cllr O’Hara sits on three council panels and has attended 88 per cent of meetings in the current financial year. She describes her day job as ‘self-employed house/garden maintenance’ and has no interests registered with the council. She also sits on Burton Latimer Town Council.

She has been a councillor since 2011 and previously sat on Kettering Borough Council.

Cllr O’Hara said that ‘only Nigel Farage’s party have the answers to the biggest problems facing the country’.

She joins a total of 29 councillors that Nigel Farage welcomed to the party today in the Royal Horseguards Hotel in Westminster.

She was a long-standing member of the Conservative Party, but says she “feels let down by so many broken promises.”

Councillor O’Hara said: “Residents across Northamptonshire are starting to realise that only Reform UK will offer the kind of change we deserve. On every single issue, from immigration, to taxes and the cost of living, the Conservatives have failed.”

"We need real change. Labour and the Conservatives stand for basically the same thing – high immigration, high taxes and high energy bills. Only Reform will bring some common sense back to Northamptonshire.”

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “We’re delighted Jan has joined us. We welcome anyone who shares our vision for integrity, accountability, and meaningful change.

“Our focus now turns to winning as many councillors in May as possible, where we will be standing in every single seat across Northamptonshire.”

The party, led by Nigel Farage, has hit some issues with vetting in recent weeks, with NN Journal reporting that Laurence McKenzie-Mockridge abandoning his bid to stand in Weston Favell after a racist social media post emerged.

Reform promises to ‘stand up for British culture, identity and values’. The party says it will freeze immigration, cut taxes and slash energy bills.