The leader of a Reform UK-run local authority has been criticised for an “authoritarian” attempt to silence opposition after sending a legal threat to a Labour councillor, demanding he stops mentioning her name in public.
Ed Kimberley, a Worcester city councillor, said he received the cease and desist letter from the leader of Worcestershire county council, Jo Monk, in late November.
The letter, seen by the Guardian, demanded Kimberley stop publishing or sharing “videos, posts or commentary” about the Reform leader and the wider Reform party.
It also claimed Kimberley’s videos contained content that “misrepresents” Monk and contributed to her harassment by members of the public.
Kimberley denied the claims and told the Guardian there was no legal basis for the demands, adding the letter was written as if “someone fed into ChatGPT ‘write me an angry legal letter’”.
“It is very clearly a politically motivated accusation, it is meant to silence the opposition,” he said. “There’s a big difference between criticising the opposition, calling out problems versus actually harassing people.
“This is a party that is auditioning for government … they have already resorted to Stalinist tactics this early into a local administration. I mean, good golly, what happens if they get into power?”
The cease and desist letter from Monk called for the “immediate removal” of three videos published by Kimberley, including one where he calls Reform “the new nasty party” and “the new party of the school bully”.
In the video, Kimberley also said there had been a string of allegedly “hateful comments” about disabled people, including from Monk. He also accused Reform councillors of supporting a Facebook group that encourages people to erect England flags.
Kimberley said he was “trying to get information out there” about the county council, adding that it was important to hold local politicians accountable.
In his written response to Monk, Kimberley said he would not remove any content and would continue commenting on “matters of legitimate public interest”.
“Your demand that I ‘cease making any public mention’ of your name or referring to you or Reform UK is breathtakingly authoritarian,” he wrote. “You are an elected public official who has chosen to align yourself with a political party. Both you and that party are entirely proper subjects for political commentary and criticism.”
When contacted, Monk said in a statement: “As the matter is currently being investigated and legal action may be pursued, it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time.”
