The chair of Reform UK’s Ealing branch, Steve Chilcott, has stood down after two years in the role, citing “personal considerations”.
Mr Chilcott told EALING.NEWS he had reached the point where he believed it was right to step back. He remains a member and supporter of Reform UK, while his former deputy, Lee Marriott, has taken over as branch chair.
Mr Chilcott said: “I feel that I have done my bit for Reform and have reached the point where it is right for me to step back.
“There were personal considerations behind my decision, and after giving it a great deal of thought, I decided that the time was right to move on from the role.”
Mr Chilcott first disclosed the change in a post on X last week (3 September 2026), saying he had received “so many truly heart-warming messages” after standing down.
He had served as chair since Reform UK began establishing its local branch network and said Ealing was the first of the party’s London branches to meet, in September 2024.
Mr Chilcott initially chaired a combined branch covering Ealing, Brent and Hounslow before separate branches were established in the two neighbouring boroughs.
He said: “I have given a great deal to building the party both locally and across London.”
Mr Chilcott described May’s Ealing Council elections as a particular highlight of his time as chair.
Reform fielded 61 candidates, with at least one standing in each of the borough’s 24 wards, but did not win any of Ealing Council’s 70 seats.
Mr Chilcott said: “I led the campaign to recruit, select and support 61 candidates across Ealing, jointly the highest number of candidates fielded by Reform in any London borough, and worked hard throughout the campaign to build our organisation and increase our support.
“Although we were disappointed not to win any councillors, I was very proud of the campaign and the progress we made.”
Reform candidates received a combined 32,959 votes across the borough, equivalent to a 10.8% share.
Labour retained control of Ealing Council with 46 councillors. The Liberal Democrats won 13 seats, the Conservatives and Greens five each and an independent won the remaining seat.
Mr Chilcott said Reform’s failure to win a seat did not mean its campaign had been unsuccessful.
He said: “We significantly increased the visibility of Reform across the borough, built an organisation capable of fielding 61 candidates and established a much stronger electoral presence than the party had previously had.
“I think the result demonstrated both the potential and the challenge for Reform in Ealing. We secured a significant share of the vote in a number of wards and came particularly close in several places.”
In Greenford Broadway, Reform candidate Terri Beniatian finished fourth with 907 votes, 269 behind the lowest-polling of the three elected Labour candidates.
In Northolt Mandeville and Northolt West End, Reform’s highest-polling candidates finished fifth. They were respectively 472 and 534 votes behind the Labour candidates who secured the third and final seats.
Mr Chilcott said: “Those results demonstrate that Reform is capable of building a substantial electoral base in Ealing, a borough where Labour has traditionally been extremely dominant.”
Before becoming branch chair, Mr Chilcott stood as Reform UK’s candidate for the South West constituency in the 2024 London Assembly election. He finished fifth out of six candidates with 14,450 votes.
He later contested Ealing Southall at the 2024 general election, finishing sixth out of 11 candidates with 2,585 votes. Labour’s Deirdre Costigan won the seat with 23,000 votes.
Mr Chilcott said he would continue to follow local politics and support Reform UK without holding the branch leadership position.
He said: “Stepping down as branch chair does not mean that I have abandoned the political causes or principles that brought me into the party in the first place.
“I will now support Reform from the sidelines and continue to take an interest in local politics and the issues affecting Ealing residents.”
Mr Chilcott added: “I wish Reform UK and the Ealing branch every success for the future. I have spent a considerable amount of time building the branch and supporting its candidates and volunteers, and I leave the role feeling that I have done my bit.”
