Salisbury councillor elected as Reform UK leader for Wiltshire
Cllr Ed Rimmer will head up the party's representation at County Hall in Trowbridge
Last updated 14th May 2025
Reform UK, the insurgent party that went into the May 1 council elections without a local party structure or group leader, has elected Ed Rimmer to lead the group at County Hall.
Cllr Rimmer has represented Bemerton Heath on Salisbury City Council since 2021, retaining his seat this year.
Originally elected as a Conservative, in 2024 he quit the party, citing “deep disappointment” with the Tories’ “failure to deliver on a range of promises,” including levels of immigration.
“The Conservative Party has let the country down,” said Cllr Rimmer. “They’ve taken voters for granted and failed to deliver on their own commitments. Reform UK is doing things differently and we will do what we say we are going to do.”
“Reform UK are going to work hard to secure a better deal for the people of Wiltshire.”
Reform went into the election refusing to speculate on how many seats they would win – if any – and would not say which wards they were targeting, pointing only to the fact that – like the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats – there was a Reform candidate for all of the county’s 98 seats.
At a jubilatory gathering near Stonehenge in the week of the election, Cllr Rimmer – a lay vicar and concert programme manager at Salisbury Cathedral – told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that lack of action on immigration was a key reason for him leaving the Conservatives.
“In 2010, 2015, 2017, and 2019 they said they would reduce immigration to the tens of thousands and here we are with next to a million people coming in over a year,” he said.
He also said he wanted to tackle the ‘wasted money’ spent on Net Zero and DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“The council spends money like it’s going out of fashion. It’s insulting to the electorate,” he said.
“Wiltshire Council spent a third of a million pounds on an electric rubbish collection lorry. How many people’s council tax was spent on one bin lorry? That wasn’t a decision made on economics, it was a decision made on politics.
“DEI is another example. Every penny that is spent of DEI is wasted. DEI initiatives at local council level are not what people would like their money to be spent on.”
Reform UK came away with 10 of Wiltshire Council’s 98 seats at the election.
Cllr Chris Brautigam, a former marine engineer with experience in the oil and aerospace industries and – since the election – councillor for Southwick, has been appointed deputy group leader.