A Conservative councillor has dramatically defected to Reform UK, becoming the latest casualty in a vicious power struggle that has left Wandsworth’s political establishment in chaos just nine months before crucial local elections.
Councillor Mark Justin, who represents Nine Elms ward, announced on Friday he was “officially resigning the Conservative whip” and joining Nigel Farage’s party, citing “toxic internal politics” among Wandsworth Conservatives who are “more focused on saving careerist agendas than serving local people.”
But Putney.news can reveal the true story behind Justin’s high-profile switch: he was brutally deselected by his own party in a move designed to protect beleaguered Conservative leader Aled Richard-Jones.
The Conservative Civil War
Sources close to the Wandsworth Conservative Association reveal a bitter internal battle is raging between those who led the party to its devastating 2022 defeat – losing control of Wandsworth Council after 40 years – and rebels demanding fresh leadership.
Current leader Aled Richard-Jones and his ally, former leader Will Sweet, are fighting for their political lives against a faction pushing for wholesale change ahead of May 2026’s crucial council elections.
Justin was replaced as a candidate by Sweet whose position in his current Wandsworth Town seat was under threat after opponents started targeting his lack of effort in the ward. Political insiders say Richard-Jones orchestrated the move to secure Sweet’s vote when his leadership is inevitably challenged.
The internal battle is also thought to be behind the decision several months ago of another Conservative councillor, Nick Austin in West Putney, to become an independent candidate, although Austin is still expected to stand as a Conservative candidate next May.
Reform capitalizes on Tory chaos
Reform UK is gleefully exploiting the Conservative meltdown, with party officials boasting they are “receiving more enquiries from councillors of all parties in London” and anticipating “further announcements in the coming weeks.”
Justin’s defection follows a string of similar moves across London, including councillors in Waltham Forest, Westminster, and Barnet jumping ship to Reform as the party positions itself to benefit from mainstream political turmoil.
Reform UK Member of the London Assembly Alex Wilson claimed they were “delighted to welcome a councillor of Mark’s experience,” though critics suggest the party is simply offering a political lifeboat to deselected candidates with nowhere else to go.
Labour’s own leadership crisis
But the chaos isn’t confined to the Conservative benches. In a stunning parallel crisis, Labour’s Simon Hogg – who led the party to its historic victory in 2022 – barely survived his own brutal leadership challenge just weeks ago.
The result was dangerously close: just 21 votes for Hogg against 13 for challenger Kate Stock, his own ward colleague from Falconbrook. The win was only secured after five councillors switched their support at the last minute.
Hogg’s response was nothing short of extraordinary. Within weeks of his near loss, he not only removed Stock from her cabinet position but rammed through the creation of five new “Deputy Cabinet Member” positions – each paying a £9,314 allowance on top of basic councillor pay.
The move triggered accusations of outright political bribery. The new roles – which are appointed and dismissed at Hogg’s sole discretion – were forced through by Labour councillors after heated debate at the annual council meeting. And the price tag to voters – £46,000 – was met with barely disguised disgust.
“The public won’t see this as a cheap shot. They’ll see it as an expensive bribe,” opposition councillor Peter Graham noted.
A Borough in political freefall
The twin crises have left Wandsworth – once a Conservative flagship borough that stunned Westminster when it fell to Labour – rudderless at a critical time.
Both major parties are consumed by internal warfare rather than governance, with each leader desperately trying to buy loyalty through patronage and political positioning.
The Liberal Democrats are watching with barely concealed glee, positioning themselves as the grown-ups in the room while their rivals tear chunks out of each other.
With just nine months until the next local elections, voters in Britain’s largest London borough are witnessing an unprecedented political meltdown that threatens to make Wandsworth a cautionary tale of how quickly local democracy can descend into farce.
As one veteran local observer put it: “We’ve got Conservatives stabbing each other in the back, Labour bribing people to stay loyal, and Reform picking up the pieces. At this rate, the only honest politician left in Wandsworth will be the bloke who cleans the toilets.”
