Second Westminster Conservative councillor defects to Reform UK

Another Conservative member of Westminster City Council has defected to Reform UK. Councillor Alan Mendoza this week joins Laila Cunningham as Reform UK’s second representative at the local authority.

Mendoza told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he felt Reform UK was best placed to bring about change and said he has contemplated switching parties since the 2024 General Election.

But he declined to say whether he would run as a Reform UK candidate in Westminster in next year’s local elections. His said his focus for now was standing up for local residents and advising Nigel Farage on foreign policy matters.

In a statement, Cllr Mendoza said he was proud to join Reform UK. He said: “Britain today is in abject crisis. At home and abroad, our leaders seem determined to chart a course of national and international decline.

“But the British people deserve better than this. And in Reform UK we finally have a party who will put our interests first, and ensure that our tomorrow is better than our today.

“This is the party that I’m proud to join. This is the party that will bring change that the entire nation can be proud of, and which will restore us to the first rank of global powers where we belong.”

According to Reform UK, Mendoza will now be advising Nigel Farage and the party on foreign policy and geopolitics.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Mendoza was an “excellent addition” to the team. He said: “His intricate understanding of foreign policy and experience in global affairs is invaluable. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to shape our policy platform in the months and years ahead.”

The leader of Westminster City Conservatives, Cllr Paul Swaddle, said Mendoza’s defection was “disappointing”. He told the LDRS: “It is clear from our thousands of conversations with residents of Westminster that there is no appetite for Reform in Westminster.

“My focus is and remains standing up for the residents here in Westminster”. Mendoza won his seat in Abbey Road ward in 2022 and currently sits on the audit and performance committee and the budget scrutiny task group. It is not clear if he will retain these appointments.

Mendoza was also spokesperson for Westminster City Conservatives. He joins Cunningham who defected to Reform UK in June. In April this year West End ward councillor Paul Fisher defected to the Conservatives from Labour on Westminster Council.

Mendoza is the co-founder and executive director of leading foreign policy and national security think tank The Henry Jackson Society. He obtained a BA (Hons) and MPhil in history at Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University and completed a PhD at the same institution.

Westminster Council now consists of two Reform UK councillors, 24 Conservative councillors and 28 Labour councillors.

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