A Leicestershire councillor threatened to quit Reform UK so he could reportedly operate without party "constraints" – but has seemingly changed his mind. 

Charles Whitford told a resident in an email that he would "step down" at a Reform group meeting of Leicestershire County Council this week, but he has since distanced himself from the comments. 

Cllr Whitford's reported "resignation" would have meant he would also have to leave his position as the cabinet member for Highways, Transport and Waste. In a later email, he told the resident he intended to continue as an elected member on Leicestershire County Council but as an independent, adding this move would leave him with "no constraints" and "no party to control him". 

However, the Markfield, Desford and Thornton councillor has now dismissed the comments, telling the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he had "no intention of standing down" from either Reform UK or as a cabinet member.  

He claimed he did not know "where" the claims he was planning to do so had "come from". 

The "resignation emails" follow a number of complaints from residents about Cllr Whitford's comments in relation to alleged aggressive behaviour around the erection of flags in their community. 

Cllr Whitford claimed the people raising the flags were doing so to "reject" the "destruction of British values" amid an alleged "influx of soon to be millions of mainly Muslim men of fighting age". One recipient described the councillor's response as "flat out Islamophobic". 

Cllr Whitford also claimed in the emails that immigrants were coming to make the UK a "Muslim state", leading to one of the residents accusing him of "whipping up hatred" with his words. 

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When asked about these comments, Cllr Whitford told the LDRS he did not "know what [we were] talking about".  

He added he believed there was an effort to "discredit" him among opposition groups on the council. 

When pressed on whether he denied making the comments altogether, he said he was not "denying or saying anything". The LDRS then asked if they were sentiments with which he agreed. 

He said: "I don't really know what numbers are coming in, to be honest. There's obviously a lot coming in at the moment illegally through the boats, but I don't have the information to say if they're Muslim or not, so I wouldn't make that comment." He added he did not "have any evidence" of an effort to make the UK a Muslim state. 

A Reform UK spokesman told the LDRS his understanding was that Cllr Whitford would not be resigning. He added the Party was not looking to take any disciplinary action against him over his comments.