{"id":3515,"date":"2026-02-20T20:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=3515"},"modified":"2026-02-20T23:31:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:31:57","slug":"simon-dudley-former-rbwm-council-leader-moves-to-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=3515","title":{"rendered":"Simon Dudley (former RBWM Council Leader) moves to Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ex-council leader defects to Reform UK<\/span><\/strong>
\n(Maidenhead Advertiser 13 Feb 2026)
\nFormer Conservative leader of the Royal Borough, Simon Dudley,<\/strong><\/span> has left the Tories for Reform UK \u2013 saying this is the party to fix Britain\u2019s housing crisis.<\/p>\n

Mr Dudley was the leader of Windsor and Maidenhead council from 2016 until his resignation in 2019, and is also a former chairman of Homes England.<\/p>\n

He was a driving force behind the Borough Local Plan and the move to build hundreds of homes on Maidenhead Golf Course \u2013 decisions that he defended in a recent letter to the Advertiser despite widespread criticism from residents.<\/p>\n

In a video published to his X account this week, Mr Dudley said his shift of loyalties to Nigel Farage\u2019s party reflects the dire condition of Britain\u2019s housing market.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, politicians in Westminster have made housing less affordable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a renter, you can expect to be 37 before you can buy your first home. Rent now takes up over 40 per cent of household income in Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe housing crisis is making everyone poorer and it didn\u2019t happen by accident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Walking around Maidenhead in the video, Mr Dudley spoke of his credentials for \u2018getting tens of thousands of good-quality homes built\u2019.<\/p>\n

Maidenhead Conservatives responded to the news of Mr Dudley\u2019s defection on its Facebook page, saying: \u201cReform is a party that highlights the grievance but does nothing about solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the country deserves better than glib answers to hard questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

RBWM\u2019s Conservative group leader, Cllr Sally Coneron, added in a letter to the Advertiser: \u201cOn behalf of Conservative councillors and members across the Royal Borough, I can only echo Kemi Badenoch\u2019s words: the Conservatives are learning from the mistakes of the past and [Mr Dudley is] Nigel\u2019s problem now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ex-council leader defects to Reform UK (Maidenhead Advertiser 13 Feb 2026) Former Conservative leader of the Royal Borough, Simon Dudley, has left the Tories for Reform UK \u2013 saying this is the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[142,340,339],"class_list":["post-3515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rbwm","tag-reform-uk","tag-simon-dudley"],"yoast_head":"\nSimon Dudley (former RBWM Council Leader) moves to Reform UK - DHWNEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=3515\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Simon Dudley (former RBWM Council Leader) moves to Reform UK - 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