Wandsworth council strips committees from Reform UK defector

UPDATED Wandsworth Council has removed a Reform UK councillor from two powerful committees, publishing the agenda of the meeting only after it had taken place.

Cllr Mark Justin, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK in August, was stripped of his seats on both the Planning Applications Committee and Regulatory Licensing Committee. The council’s Constitution Committee made the changes during a meeting that appeared on no advance calendar, gave no start time, and provided no explanation, and may not have even taken place.

The meeting was listed as having occurred on “Monday, 29th December” on the council’s online calendar, but subscribers to committee updates only learned of it when an automated email arrived at 10pm stating the agenda had been published at 7:36pm that evening. No time was given for when the meeting actually took place.

Council leader Simon Hogg has not explained why the meeting was held without advance notice, why no published summary of changes was provided, or why the committee chose the final working days of December to make the appointments. The council has also not responded to questions about when it will correct a separate constitutional error that has silenced three councillors representing approximately 18,000 residents.

Committees with real power

The Planning Applications Committee decides major and controversial planning applications affecting large developments across Wandsworth. Members vote on schemes that shape neighbourhoods, with wrong decisions potentially leading to costly appeals against the council.

The Regulatory Licensing Committee controls alcohol licensing under the Licensing Act 2003, with powers to grant, refuse, modify, suspend or revoke licenses for pubs, restaurants, clubs and late-night businesses. The committee’s decisions directly affect premises’ ability to trade and the character of local high streets.

Justin’s removal from both committees came four months after his defection. He had been elected as a Conservative in May 2022 but switched to Reform UK in August 2025 amid a brutal power war within the Wandsworth Conservative group.

One other committee change was made at the same Wandsworth council secret meeting. Cllr Lawless was removed from the Audit Committee and replaced with Cllr Critchard. On the Regulatory Licensing Committee, Cllr Sweet replaced Justin in the Conservative group slot. On Planning Applications, Cllr Jeffreys took the seat Justin had occupied.

The December 2025 constitution bears no published change log showing what was altered from the August 2025 version. A detailed comparison of both versions confirms the only substantive changes relate to these committee membership appointments. No changes were made to constitutional powers, executive roles, officer delegations, procedures, codes of conduct, or governance frameworks.

The council reissued the entire 200-plus page constitution to reflect three committee membership changes, making it very difficult to identify what had actually been amended and why.

Opportunity ignored

The Constitution Committee meeting came two weeks after we reported that three councillors have been effectively silenced by a drafting error in Standing Order 39. Malcolm Grimston (Independent, West Hill), Mark Justin (Reform UK, Nine Elms) and Nick Austin (Independent, West Putney) cannot raise issues of their choosing in Full Council because the standing order requires motions to come “through their Group Whip.”

Mayor Jeremy Ambache acknowledged in December that this “was a missed opportunity for the GP committee (which Cllr Grimston and I sat on) to consider the position of ‘Independent’ members in relation to this matter; and there may be good reason to review this Standing Order in future.”

The Constitution Committee had the power to fix the error at its December 29 meeting. It did not do so.

The council promised in February 2025 to become “more open, modern and listening” when it introduced sweeping constitutional changes, but has declined to say when it will correct the standing order that has stripped speaking rights from elected representatives.

The Constitution Committee appears to be an unusual workaround to update the council’s constitution without going through a normal council committee. It doesn’t list its members, or provide minutes, or even explain what changes it is making. It has unclear powers and an opaque role.

The posting of its agenda after the ‘meeting’ has taken place is a further indication that the entire update process to how the council is run was poorly thought through.

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UPDATE – 11 January 2026

Following publication, Wandsworth Council responded on January 6 with clarification about how constitutional updates are processed.

A council spokesperson explained: “The changes to the Constitutional are shown as ‘meetings’ as this is the structure permitted by our website. However, this does not mean that there was a meeting on the dates shown on the website. The dates simply reflect the date on which the Constitution was updated to reflect the changes agreed by Council. There was therefore no meetings of the Council or its Committees on 29 December 2025.”

The council confirmed that committee membership changes were “agreed by Council” rather than by a separate Constitution Committee meeting.

Regarding Standing Order 39, the council said: “If, and when Members determine it is necessary to change this standing order, a report will be brought to Council at that time.”

This is helpful clarification. The council’s response explains that their website structure, while confusing, reflects administrative updates rather than actual meetings. We have asked the council for additional details to help us – and residents – better understand when these decisions were made and how the process works.

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