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A Reform councillor failed to declare a company he owned, triggering a formal complaint from a constituent.
Terry Mole (Reform UK, Ramsgate Division) was accused by a constituent of flouting the Localism Act, as he did not disclose his ownership of a delivery firm.
Cllr Terry Mole’s register of interests – until a complaint was filed by a constituent – stated that he owns a company, but the name of the company was omitted.
It simply read: “Company owner – Debt Transfer Services”. The Localism Act 2011 stipulates that councillors must accurately disclose their financial interests within 28 days of being elected.
However, Byline Times found that, rather than running a (nameless) ‘debt transfer’ company, it is actually a firm called DAT Transport Services Ltd – a delivery company operating in Kent.
When questioned by a constituent about the matter – before this outlet found the real nature of the firm – Cllr Mole replied suggesting they meet in-person, but refused to give the name of his company via email.
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Cllr Mole had said: “I would rather not pass personal information to someone unknown to me through the internet.”
But constituent Carly told him: “Elected councillors are required to be transparent about their sources of income and assets they own. Your register of interests is still incomplete; it does not name the business you own.”
Cllr Mole then allegedly stopped responding to her emails to follow up with the invitation.
The resident then requested Kent County Council instruct Cllr Mole to disclose the relevant details of the company he owns.
She asked the council’s democratic services team to confirm whether or not Cllr Mole is breaking the law. After a month of failing to get answers, she filed a formal complaint to the council.
On November 11th, a council official told the constituent: “Further to your emails regarding Mr Mole’s register of interests, I can confirm his employment has now been updated to include the name of the company for which he is director.”
The constituent of Cllr Mole, Carly, said: “I find it very odd that Terry Mole went to these lengths to avoid revealing the name of his company. It’s in the public interest for him to be transparent and tell us where his earnings come from, but he refused to talk about it when I contacted him directly, and didn’t answer my follow-up email at all.”
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“Why didn’t Kent County Council check the submissions from their councillors? Why are some of them allowed to get away with highly evasive answers on their registers of interest?
“The public are sick of politicians that have vested interests, so we need all of them to honestly disclose how they (and their spouses) earn a living.”
Speaking to Byline Times, a spokesperson for Kent County Council’s democratic services team appeared to confirm there was no sanction for appearing to break the rules, saying: “I can confirm that, following receipt of relevant enquiries, Officers sought clarification from Mr Mole to check the details in the Register to ensure they were correct. Following this clarification, his Register of Interest has been updated accordingly.”
Though the problem is not confined to Nigel Farage’s party, it is the latest in a series of inaccuracies from Reform councillors, failing to provide the full picture of their financial interests.
As reported in our On the Ground column in print this month, Durham County Council’s Reform UK Deputy Leader Darren Grimes’ register of interests is notably sparse.
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The controversial councillor and anti-migrant content creator recently complained of having been “demonetised” by Facebook owner Meta for his video content on the platform. Meta apparently stopped his payments after realising he is an elected official and therefore ineligible under its rules. The row raised questions, however, over why he has never declared that income.
Under ‘employment’ on his council records, Cllr Grimes lists only his D-Dog Media Ltd firm, of which he is the director.
Byline Times asked the far-right activist and the council why he has not previously declared income from Facebook/Meta, or his presumably-significant income from Elon Musk’s X ‘creator revenue sharing’ programme. The latter provides thousands of pounds a month to the likes of Reform Leader Nigel Farage, far-right convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (‘Tommy Robinson’), and likely Cllr Grimes, too.
But Helen Bradley, the council’s director of legal and democratic services, told this outlet: “We understand income from Cllr Grimes’ social media has been paid to a company, of which he is a director. This company is declared on his register of interests.”
Asked why he doesn’t have to declare any of his clients or who is paying him, the council spokesperson responded: “There is no requirement for them to declare clients or payees of any business listed on this register.”
This is likely to remain a loophole even under Labour’s planned changes, announced this week.
On Tuesday, the Labour Government pledged “sweeping reforms” to strengthen standards and rebuild confidence in local government in England.
Local authorities will gain powers to suspend councillors and mayors for serious misconduct and to withhold allowances where behaviour falls short.
Ministers say the changes follow overwhelming public support, with 94% respondents to the official consultation backing a mandatory code of conduct on English councils (Welsh, Scottish and NI council rules are devolved to those nations).
Byline Times also recently revealed that dozens of Reform councillors in Durham had failed to declare they are actually members of Reform, listing no organisations in their ‘political memberships’ entry. Many of these registers were updated when we alerted the council – though there is understood, once again, to have been no sanction.
Got a story? Get in touch in confidence on josiah@bylinetimes.com
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Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
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