BUTE ward councillor Peter Wallace has spoken of his disappointment after a Scottish Conservative colleague at Argyll and Bute Council defected to Reform UK this week.
The move by Dunoon ward councillor Daniel Hampsey has triggered calls for his resignation and renewed debate about democratic accountability across the wider council area.
Councillor Hampsey confirmed on Monday morning that he had left the Scottish Conservatives to join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. He made the announcement at a press conference alongside Lord Malcolm Offord, leader of Reform UK in Scotland.
Although Hampsey does not represent Bute, his defection has political implications for the balance of power within Argyll and Bute Council, where the Conservative group is led by Bute councillor Peter Wallace.
Hampsey becomes Reform UK’s first councillor on Argyll and Bute Council and the party’s 22nd councillor nationally. He was elected in 2022 on a Scottish Conservative ticket.
Speaking after the announcement, Hampsey said he believed Reform UK offered the only alternative to the broken political establishment in Scotland.
I am delighted to have joined Reform UK, he said. With the leadership of Malcolm Offord, Reform will bring the much-needed change the people of Scotland are crying out for. Scotland is broken and Scotland needs reform.
However, the move has prompted criticism from former Conservative supporters and councillors, with some arguing that Hampsey should now step aside to allow a by-election.
An online petition calling for his resignation has now gathered close to 100 signatures. The petition argues that voters elected Hampsey as a Conservative councillor and that switching parties mid-term undermines the democratic mandate given to him at the ballot box. It calls for a by-election to allow local people to decide who represents them on the council.
One constituent, who voted for Hampsey in 2022 and spoke anonymously to this newspaper, said she felt let down by the decision.
I thought Daniel made a great councillor and a strong Conservative representative, she said. But I don’t believe Reform UK reflects the views of most people locally, and I think there should be a by-election. The party’s wider policies and associations concern me, and I don’t see how that won’t affect his work.
Councillor Hampsey rejected calls for his resignation, insisting that he was elected as an individual rather than solely on a party label.
I feel the Conservative Party left me, not the other way around, he said.
The Scottish Conservative group on Argyll and Bute Council is led by Bute councillor Peter Wallace. No change to the group’s leadership has been announced following Hampsey’s departure, but the defection reduces Conservative numbers on the council and raises questions about party loyalty, representation and accountability — issues likely to resonate with voters across Bute as well as the mainland.
