Doncaster Council Reform UK leader says councillor's social media posts are 'unacceptable

Doncaster Free Press

Councillor Guy Aston of Reform UK spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service for the first time since the elections on May 1, 2025.

Transcript

00:00And we will get started.

00:03Councillor Aston, first of all, congratulations on a fantastic election result.

00:07Give us your thoughts on what you thought of the results and how you felt it went.

00:13Well they were stunning.

00:14We had a feeling from national polls anyway that we would do reasonably well, the pundits

00:20were saying 22 seats, we made it to 37, so it was breathtaking for us, better than we

00:26ever expected.

00:28And what about the cohort that you have?

00:30Obviously you've said many times before, and it's been a common line from reform councillors

00:34and reform members of the line, these are Doncaster civilians, people that have lived

00:38in Doncaster who just wanted to make a difference.

00:41What kind of people have you got in your group and what kind of councillors will they be?

00:44Well we have a broad cross-section of people, people who own small businesses, people who

00:49are retired, people who are tradespeople, it really is a group of Doncaster citizens.

00:58The main point I would make is that very, very few of them, very few, have ever been

01:04involved politically before.

01:06But they just felt the state of the country, the state of the nation, the state of Doncaster

01:12was such they had to do something.

01:15And before Christmas they were just citizens, now they are councillors.

01:19So that's a big step, a very bold step and a brave step for many of them to make.

01:24And at risk of being repetitive, because I know you've fielded this question already,

01:28but about the executive group invite from Ros Jones, what's your position on that?

01:34Right.

01:35We were not being offered what I would consider genuine cabinet positions.

01:40There were no portfolios, no authority, no decision making.

01:44We did not really quite thoroughly understand why we should be there and we have turned it

01:49down.

01:50So we will not be here in that executive.

01:55And how do you hope to impact decision making then if you're not in that room?

01:58Yes, Ros Jones has some executive powers to pass matters through, but a lot of the decision

02:05making has to come to the council chamber, has to go through committees, which the majority

02:11of we have a good number of reform people on.

02:14So we will scrutinise, we will observe, we will if need be call in.

02:19So it is going to be a matter of what I like to call constructive opposition.

02:24We are not going to just sit there and veto, veto, veto.

02:27That wouldn't do Doncaster any good at all.

02:30But we will scrutinise very closely and influence our committees.

02:34And again, you'll have seen some reporting from myself and the local democracy reporting

02:39service about social media posts from one of your council colleagues, Mark Broadhurst.

02:43I'm going to ask you, it's quite a direct question this one, but do you believe posts

02:46in comparing Islamic dress to bin bags and memes suggesting Adolf Hitler would have been

02:50a legend if we targeted Muslims are acceptable for a councillor to post?

02:55Well, the council members have a certain standard of behaviour.

02:58I have to say, I think that probably transgresses.

03:01But the matter is in the hands of the council now.

03:03So I don't really want to say any more until they give a verdict.

03:08Can I just ask if you've spoken to Councillor Broadhurst about his social media activity?

03:13I haven't, no.

03:14I only actually learnt about it yesterday.

03:17Given it's in the hands of the council, I'm prepared to leave it there.

03:22I will probably pick up with it.

03:23Of course I will.

03:24And I don't quite know how that's even happened, to be honest with you.

03:29And then just to finish on a slightly cheerier note than Councillor Broadhurst's social media

03:33history.

03:34Tell us how you hope the next four years will go for the council, but also for Reform UK

03:38in Doncaster.

03:41I hope we will achieve the influence and the outcomes that we're looking for.

03:46That whatever is, simplistically, whatever is being spent, invested by this council,

03:54is going for the best purposes to serve the people of Doncaster, basically.

03:59Excellent. Thank you.

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