{"id":22220,"date":"2025-11-12T16:31:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T16:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/?p=22220"},"modified":"2025-11-12T16:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T16:31:13","slug":"well-have-control-of-wigan-council-by-2027-atherton-independent-councillor-defects-to-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/well-have-control-of-wigan-council-by-2027-atherton-independent-councillor-defects-to-reform-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We&#8217;ll have control of Wigan council by 2027\u2019: Atherton Independent councillor defects to Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A councillor who has represented the Atherton North ward as an Independent since 2019 has announced his defection to Reform UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Councillor Paul Watson, opposition leader on Wigan Council, made the announcement on Friday. The move follows the election of Wigan council\u2019s first ever Reform UK councillor, Lee Moffitt, in a by-election in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The change was revealed during a first anniversary celebration held by Reform UK\u2019s Wigan branch in Fitzpatricks Irish bar on 6 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watson said his move was influenced by a lack of representation in the two major political parties and \u201ccorruption at a national level on almost a weekly basis\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He cited the Labour government\u2019s plan to scrap the Conservative Party\u2019s Legacy Act, which provided those in the military legal immunity from prosecution, as a recent reason for his defection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said: \u201cFor the past six years as an Independent we\u2019ve achieved quite a lot locally, but when it comes to making any substantial change it needs to be part of a bigger party. Moving forward to implement change, Reform is the way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy values have never changed. Even before Reform UK was a party, I had them values.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watson lambasted what he called the &#8220;established uni-party&#8221;, saying that voters should have more representation and choice. He said: &#8220;We\u2019ve got to break the establishment\u2019s grip on the illusion of democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy job now is to build on the two Reform UK councillors we\u2019ve got, to get more elected in 2026, and hopefully gain control of Wigan council by 2027. In doing that, we can reform that council. We can cut wastage, change policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2025\/11\/reform-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2025\/11\/reform-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2025\/11\/reform-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2025\/11\/reform-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2025\/11\/reform.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The announcement was made at an anniversary event for Reform UK&#8217;s Wigan branch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, local constituent Guy Prowse said he was &#8220;very disappointed&#8221; with the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Independent councillors here do a very good job,&#8221; he said. &#8220;A lot of the strength of independents is that they don&#8217;t have to tow a party line. I think councillor Watson has weakened that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Someone going from Independent to a party does strike me as opportunism. I think he senses where the wind is blowing. As soon as a general election hit last year, he started posting more overtly right wing social media content.&#8221;<br><br>Others responded positively online, including local Ray Taylor, who said: \u201cGood luck James let&#8217;s get rid of this rotten council.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fellow Atherton North councillor Stuart Gerrard, who remains an Independent alongside Jamie Hodgkinson, said of the news: &#8220;We&#8217;ve known he&#8217;s been toying with the idea for a while. There&#8217;s no bad blood between us or malice, we&#8217;re still working together.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/Luis_Cook1\/status\/1987137479426634237\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Gerrard emphasised his own plans to remain as an Independent &#8220;for the foreseeable&#8221;, and that he believes party politics should stay out of local government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement on the announcement, Gerrard said: \u201cI wish councillor James Paul Watson good luck in his new political adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The borough&#8217;s first Reform UK councillor, Lee Moffit, called the announcement event a &#8220;seismic night&#8221; on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1MiggfFW2e\/\">behalf of the party&#8217;s Wigan branch<\/a>. &#8220;We have doubled our presence in the Wigan Council chamber,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe defection of councillor Paul Watson, the former Leader of the Opposition, brings a wealth of experience!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oldham also gained its first set of Reform councillors in recent months. In September, the borough saw three councillors defect to the party, including Lewis Quigg, who represents Royton North, as well as Failsworth West councillors Mark Wilkinson and Sandra Ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A councillor who has represented the Atherton North ward as an Independent since 2019 has announced his defection to Reform UK. Councillor Paul Watson, opposition&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1960,"featured_media":22221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4972],"tags":[5918,5916],"class_list":["post-22220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-reform-uk","tag-wigan-council"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018We&#039;ll have control of Wigan council by 2027\u2019: Atherton Independent councillor defects to Reform UK - The Northern Quota<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thenorthernquota.org\/well-have-control-of-wigan-council-by-2027-atherton-independent-councillor-defects-to-reform-uk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018We&#039;ll have control of Wigan council by 2027\u2019: Atherton Independent councillor defects to Reform UK - The Northern Quota\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A councillor who has represented the Atherton North ward as an Independent since 2019 has announced his defection to Reform UK. 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Councillor Paul Watson, opposition leader on Wigan Council, made the announcement on Friday. The move follows the election of Wigan council\u2019s first ever Reform UK councillor, Lee Moffitt, in a by-election in October. The\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"George Lee\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/well-have-control-of-wigan-council-by-2027-atherton-independent-councillor-defects-to-reform-uk\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Northern Quota - Latest news from Manchester\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018We\u2019ll have control of Wigan council by 2027\u2019: Atherton Independent councillor defects to Reform UK - The Northern Quota\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A councillor who has represented the Atherton North ward as an Independent since 2019 has announced his defection to Reform UK. 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