A Bolton councillor has defected to become the borough’s first Reform UK/Bolton For Change representative.
Coun Julie Pattison was elected in the Kearsley ward in 2018 as a member of the Farnworth and Kearsley First group.
She was a founder member of that party and until today was one of their five representatives on Bolton Council.
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She will now sit under the Reform UK/Bolton For Change banner until May, when her term of office will finish.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands she will then stand for election for her new party in direct opposition to a Farnworth and Kearsley First candidate.
In a joint statement with her former party Coun Pattison, announced her resignation from Farnworth and Kearsley First.
She added that in the next general election, she is hoping to stand as a potential MP for Reform UK/Bolton For Change, which replaced the Brexit Party.
She is set to be their parliamentary candidate in the Bolton South East constituency.
The joint statement, said: “Julie feels that this will help her to fulfil her long held desire to fight social injustice at a national level.
“Farnworth and Kearsley First and Julie express thanks and best wishes to each other for the future.”
Farnworth and Kearsley First leader, Paul Sanders, added: "Farnworth and Kearsley First and Coun Pattison have parted company on good personal terms.
"But Julie’s decision to join a different type of politics, and to focus on wider national issues, are completely her own.
"Farnworth and Kearsley First Party will continue to focus purely on the betterment of Kearsley and Farnworth and passionately representing our proud communities."
Reform UK/Bolton For Change, who stood in several Bolton Council wards in last May’s borough elections without winning a seat, issued a statement welcoming Coun Pattison to the party.
It said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce that councillor Julie Pattison has joined us at Reform UK and Bolton for Change. We have admired Julie’s hard work, commitment and dedication to her community, in Kearsley, since she became a councillor in 2018
“We have watched Julie work tirelessly throughout the Bolton borough over the last four years, in her role as a councillor. Julie is passionate about her role and this shows in what she does.
“We are proud and excited that Julie has chosen to join our party. We believe Julie will be an invaluable asset to both Reform UK and Bolton for Change. We welcome Julie wholeheartedly.”
The defection means the number of Farnworth and Kearsley First councillors on Bolton Council is reduced from five to four.
Opposition Labour Party leader Nick Peel responded to the news by branding Reform UK as ‘a right wing group of disaffected brexiters’ and attacking Farnworth and Kearsley First.
He said: “We have always said there is no such a a thing as an Independent.
“Coun Julie Pattison, elected as an Farnworth & Kearsley First Party councillor, has defected to Reform UK, a right wing group of disaffected brexiters, who can’t move on.
“The most shocking thing about this is that a joint statement from FKF states that this move will help Julie ‘fight social injustice’. Reform UK stands for anything but social justice.
“This open approval of the right wing policies of Reform UK from FKF exposes this so called independent party for what many people long suspected, Tory apologists who prop up a Tory Council in Bolton, who have hoodwinked the genuinely independent votes of Farnworth and Kearsley people.”
