“We live rent free in their heads, they can’t get rid of us”

What we asked John Vye, Reform councillor for Rochester East and Warren Wood

Following Reform’s double by-election win in Rochester East and Warren Wood in February, we previously interviewed group leader Cllr David Finch. We now follow that up with his fellow Reform UK councillor, John Vye. We met at the Ship and Trades in Chatham and tried to talk about what brought him to Medway, why he joined Reform, and the differences between being a parish and unitary councillor…

Cllr John Vye (right)

What ward are you the councillor for?
Rochester East and Warren Wood.

Why that ward?
Well, there was two vacancies for councillors to stand in the last by-election.

Do you live in the ward?
No.

Where in Medway do you live?
Cuxton. Just down the road from the other (Reform) councillor.

Did you know each other before the by-election?
No. I met him at the Reform meeting on St Mary's Island on my first day.

Which political parties have you been a member of?
Reform.

You were never interested in UKIP or Brexit?
No.

What made you join Reform?
I fell out with the mainstream parties we got. The morning I joined Reform, I thought, ‘I don't see what they're wrong about.’

How long was there between joining Reform and standing for election?
Four months.

Had you been active in politics before Reform?
Parish council.

How long have you been a parish councillor for?
Oh gosh. Twenty... It must have been three years. I went in halfway through because I was co-opted into the council.

Was there a reason you decided to stand for parish council?
Yes, actually. The vacancy had been vacant for about three months. I thought, ‘Well, what's the matter, let's do that.’

When you said you were fed up with the main parties, was there a particular issue or event?
They just took no notice of what the people wanted, what they voted for. They said what they're going to stand for, and as soon as they get voted in, they change what they sign up for.

What was the tipping point? What made you finally go, actually I am going to join?
Well, the country's going down the pan. Labour, Conservatives, they're just a uni-party. What one's done, the others done.

What was it about Reform that they stood out against the others?
Well, basically Nigel was the MEP and he got us out of Europe on Brexit. It was the only party really that stood there to do it. Went on for that really.

You supported Brexit?
Yeah, I voted for it.

Why did you vote for Brexit?
Fed up of Europe telling us, dictate what we've got to do, what we haven't got to do. All their stupid things they kept bringing in. You've got this, you've got to do that. It's just getting silly. We're a sovereign country. We've been dictated to by European Unionists.

What was your experience of the by-election?
It was good, yeah. Hard work. Especially at my age. Dave (Cllr Finch) was running round like a youngster, and there's me plodding along behind him.

Since then, Reform have gone on to win Kent County Council and win other by-elections in borough councils. Why do you think Reform are doing so well in Kent?
Well, it's a new, fresh party, got new politics. All the other parties are the same. All got the same policies, but dressed up to make it look better. Reform seems to come and say, ‘We're going to do this, and we're going to do that,’ and seems to be doing it. They say, ‘Go do it.’ Like Kent County Council, now Reform run it, they say ‘We're going to do this,’ and they've been in and done it, or sorted it. Whereas the others say, ‘We're going to sort it,’ and three years later, they're going to do it, ‘We'll think about it now.’

During the last full council at Medway, the administration decided to spend a lot of time asking questions that were all about Reform. What did you think of that?
I think you already know that, Steve. We live rent free in their heads, they can't get rid of us. We are rent free (laughs). That's all they can ever think about and ask about.