Opinion: Councillor Stuart Davies and Reform — why Weston should fear where this politics is heading

by Paul Howe

Weston-super-Mare has enough real problems without importing American culture-war politics into local public life.

We need councillors focused on what affects residents day to day: decent housing standards, safer neighbourhoods, reliable transport, and services people can actually access when they need them. Instead, what we are increasingly being offered is something else entirely — grievance politics, “strongman” admiration, and ideological theatre that belongs on social media, not in public office.

That is why residents should take a hard look at Cllr Stuart Davies, a Reform councillor representing our area. Not just because of what he signals locally, but because of what his political loyalties point towards nationally — and internationally.

Local reporting has described controversy around Cllr Davies’s social media activity and said he was removed from a council political group following posts connected to Donald Trump, including pictures from Trump’s inauguration. This is not simply about personal taste. It is about judgement. It is about whether an elected councillor uses their platform to steady the ship and focus on delivery — or whether they import divisive politics designed to inflame and divide.

The same reporting also attributes to Cllr Davies support for conspiracy themes and anti-vaccine commentary, and references claims around media activity linked to Tommy Robinson. If that is even broadly accurate, Weston is not looking at a harmless eccentric. We are looking at a public representative who risks undermining trust and dragging local debate towards the ugliest corners of the internet.

Supporters of Reform often sell themselves as “patriots” and “sovereignty first.” But look closely at the direction of travel from Reform’s leadership — and the political wind now blowing across the Atlantic.

Nigel Farage has been reported as saying the world would be a “better, more secure place” if America took over Greenland. He has also been reported as framing American control of Greenland as “stronger for NATO.” That alone should make British voters pause. If sovereignty matters, it matters everywhere — not just when it wins votes at home.

Now add JD Vance — Vice President of the United States — openly telling Europe it is failing on migration and defence, and wrapping it in “civilisational” language. In a report by Chay Quinn for LBC News (24 January 2026, 1:14), Vance argued America wants Europe to control its borders because it wants European civilisation to “preserve itself.” (Photo: Getty Images.)

This is not calm policy discussion. It is pressure. It is “border panic” politics dressed up as concern — and it fuels the exact mood in which Reform thrives. In the UK, migration is already one of the biggest sources of frustration, especially around illegal crossings and the feeling that government has lost control. When senior figures in Trump’s administration frame it as a civilisational crisis, they are not simply criticising Europe — they are giving ideological cover to parties that want to turn fear into power.

And if anyone thinks this is “just rhetoric”, look at where the argument leads next: the NHS.

Wes Streeting has warned that Reform’s approach would push Britain towards a different model of healthcare — one where private insurance becomes normalised and the NHS slowly shifts into a second-tier safety net. Streeting is reported to argue that Reform’s policy of 20% tax relief on private health insurance could cost around £1.7bn, describing it as a tax cut that would benefit those who can already afford private cover — money not going into NHS staff, buildings or treatment capacity.

This matters in Weston. When healthcare becomes something you “top up” privately, it is never the well-off who suffer. It is ordinary people who end up waiting longer, travelling further, and worrying every winter about whether the system can cope. The NHS is not a lifestyle accessory. It is the backbone of ordinary life.

So here is the pattern Weston should recognise: culture-war messaging about borders and “civilisation”, deference to Trump-world politics, and economic choices that quietly shift public services towards a two-tier future.

And this is where local politics becomes serious.

Cllr Stuart Davies is not a free-floating independent voice. He is part of a movement. He represents a brand. A vote for Reform locally is not cast in a vacuum — it strengthens the national project, normalises the worldview, and shifts the centre of gravity. That is how political change happens: not with one dramatic announcement, but with the steady drip of “reasonable” excuses for unreasonable outcomes.

Reform sells itself as “anti-establishment”, but look closely: it is becoming the UK branch office of Trump-world politics — fear-first messaging, culture-war identity talk, and policies that pull Britain away from shared public provision and towards a private, pay-to-cope model.

Weston deserves better than imported grievance politics. We need councillors who take responsibility seriously — people who lower the temperature, not raise it; people who deal with local priorities, not global performance.

So I’ll ask it plainly: do we really want Weston marching in step behind politics that is increasingly under the umbrella of Trump’s America — where borders become a permanent crisis, and public services become a private luxury?

Because once this worldview takes root, it does not stop at words. It shapes policy, it shapes community relations, and it shapes how power is used.

Weston can do better. Weston must do better.