Worcestershire Source

We are not aligned to any political party. A source of political gossip in the county of Worcestershire.

[Tom Edwards ✍️​🎙️👨‍💻 @tomedwardsbbchw]

🚨BREAKING: Redditch’s “amazing” FTD brothers are set to be given the Freedom of the Borough, reveals council leader 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

What a fully deserved accolade - we’ve got more exclusive details on @bbchw this morning 🥳
👉https://t.co/jEGXxPzwTd

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

Full statement
https://t.co/hFE2ecJUJS

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨 NEW: Reform in Redditch have hit back at complaints about their councillor who posted about how there were too many black people on the BBC's output. They suggest she was elected with the public fully aware that these were her views.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

@jessalinecaine Well, we do have unitary elections coming up ...

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

Worcestershire strikes again!?

[Jess Caine 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @jessalinecaine]

I have decided to leave the Conservative Party.

I am not under any illusion that my membership is significant. I am a small account, and ordinarily I would find it rather self-important to announce leaving a political party

The only reason I am doing so publicly is because my decision follows what I believe is a serious problem with internal toxicity.

I would define myself as a Red Tory. I believe in family, community, national belonging, anti-woke, local institutions, social responsibility and a state that remembers its duties where it has assumed them. That political tendency has felt like a dying breed inside the Party for a long time.

My views no longer fit comfortably within a Party I have loved being a member of for many years.

I have never particularly cared whether my opinions were fashionable, popular, or warmly received by whichever faction currently thinks it owns the room. Politics would be pointless if we only said things that earned applause from our own side!!

But since 15 May, after I criticised Worcestershire Conservatives for working with the Greens, I have been subjected to a level of hostility from within Conservative circles that I can no longer ignore.

My posts have been trawled through, my views misrepresented, claims briefed against me, and in one case an individual openly admitted on multiple occasions to attempting to identify and expose personal information about me.

The same individual then spread false claims about my membership status, creating a needless cloud of suspicion around something the Party itself has already confirmed…

I have also watched very recent similar hostility directed at others, including Andrew Pierce and Katie Lam MP, for apparently failing to perform enough Tory purity on X. A party that treats difference of emphasis as betrayal is NOT a party confident in its future.

This is an ugly, paranoid and deeply unpleasant culture.

There is a disease at the root of the Conservative Party, and I increasingly believe this toxic internal policing is part of it.

That said, I do not leave the Membership with hatred. I have many good friends in the Party, and I am grateful for the kindness, support, and encouragement I have received from decent Conservatives over the years.

I am also grateful that the Conservative Party Data Team replied on 1 June to my complaint of 26 May, opening an investigation and Subject Access Request relating to the attempted dox.

However, when someone publicly and repeatedly claims to have access to personal information through Party channels, I would have expected a quicker and more decisive response.

The possibility that my personal details, such as my home address, may have been accessed or shared in this way is deeply concerning.

It has become clear to me that my views, and the kind of politics I believe in, are no longer welcome in the Party.

So I have resigned my membership this evening.

[Christopher Bloore @ChrisBloore]

Another brilliant Pride in Redditch #Pride

[Harriett Baldwin @hbaldwin]

I met the Malvern Hills Trust team yesterday and you can follow where the Bill has got to here:
https://t.co/iUfO8e4HOi

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

Source:

BBC News - Labour bid to force out Reform UK Redditch mayor - BBC News
https://t.co/nEpfkD0Q0Z

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨 NEW: A motion of no confidence has been submitted in the Mayor of Redditch following historic social media posts that have been described as being racist and homophobic.

The Mayor was appointed just last month in a deal between the Conservatives and Reform with the Tories taking leadership roles and Reform taking ceremonial positions, despite the Tories only having 4 seats to Reform's 7 (though they actually won 8).

The Labour group who tabled the motion only need one councillor to vote with them to win the motion.

If one non-Labour councillor abstains or is absent it could go to ... the Mayor's casting vote!

Will the Tories and Independents come to Reform's rescue in defence of these posts?

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

The fact is the Tories had 4 seats in Cabinet versus 3 Greens. Meaning the smaller party was NOT in control, the Tories were.

[Tom Edwards ✍️​🎙️👨‍💻 @tomedwardsbbchw]

Kemi Badenoch has doubled-down on CCHQ's stance over the suspended Worcestershire Tory Councillor Adam Kent, telling the BBC she will not tolerate "dishonesty". This saga takes yet another turn 👇
https://t.co/ZLJ83ofYrS

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

😲KENT: "My lawyers have now chased them on several occasions and still have not been provided with any evidence to justify the claims they have made in the media."

https://t.co/R85eDUiA8M

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

Link to the full petition: https://t.co/pK9IFrRryP

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨NEW: A local resident in Redditch has started a petition calling on Councillor Sue Eacock to resign.
It says: "Although these posts were largely made prior to her election, they show a long held, well established belief and topics covering a broad range of negativity towards a number of protected characteristics that would be a sackable offence in any workplace under the Equalities Act."

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🏆WIN: Within hours of Worcestershire Source highlighting the potential legal issues with Cllr Nikki Lloyd's website the site has now been updated to remove all references to Redditch Borough Council.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨BREAKING: The Reform group deputy leader in Redditch has been accused of using public resources for political benefit. Cllr Nikki Lloyd has set up a website and podcast based at Redditch Borough Council's address whilst simultaneously promoting herself and Reform UK.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

This website carries prominent Reform UK branding and political content, yet uses a Redditch Borough Council email address and the Town Hall as its correspondence address.

Public resources should never be used, or appear to be used, for party political purposes.

The matter is with the Monitoring Officer to clarify whether these arrangements are appropriate.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨BREAKING: The Reform group deputy leader in Redditch has been accused of using public resources for political benefit. Cllr Nikki Lloyd has set up a website and podcast based at Redditch Borough Council's address whilst simultaneously promoting herself and Reform UK.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨NEW: The Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner for West Mercia @Mbayliss14 has joined calls for Councillor Susan Eacock to resign as Mayor of Redditch following concerns raised by local community leaders about her past posts on X, which were described as racist and homophobic.
https://t.co/S1q4DuoIu2

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨NEW: Community leaders across Redditch have expressed concern about the Mayor's racist posts on X, on an account she has now deleted.
A report by @tomedwardsbbchw quotes three community organisers with one saying:
"I've spent a lifetime trying to build bridges and fight against racism in all its forms, but it seems we still have a very long way to go."

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

@reformexposed Interestingly, she shares the Redditch South County Council division with Roger Bennett who was suspended by the Conservative Party years ago due to posts on social media.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

Important to note that the WIGs have 1 councillor on Redditch Borough Council, and that the Labour group only needs 1 other councillor to vote with them in a motion of no confidence for it to pass (assuming the Tories and other INDs come to her rescue).
More likely the Conservatives and independents would abstain.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨BREAKING: The leader of the Worcestershire Independent Group, Councillor David Taylor, has called on Councillor Sue Eacock to resign as Mayor of Redditch over her historic social media posts, which have attracted condemnation from community leaders who slammed them as racist and homophobic.

[Worcestershire Source @Worcsource]

🚨BREAKING: The leader of the Worcestershire Independent Group, Councillor David Taylor, has called on Councillor Sue Eacock to resign as Mayor of Redditch over her historic social media posts, which have attracted condemnation from community leaders who slammed them as racist and homophobic.