Reform UK councillor explains why he voted against flying Pride flag in village

A Reform UK councillor at the centre of a row over a council leader’s comments on homophobia has explained why he voted against flying the Pride flag last year.

Councillor Graham Bocking, who is Reform UK’s only councillor on Tewkesbury Borough Council, hit out at the authority leader’s comments in a recent video post on social media.

The Liberal Democrat suggested in the video, in which he defended the authority in commemorating the LGBT+  community by flying the Pride flag in June, that homophobes had gone on to become Reform UK councillors.

Reform UK hit out at the comments and accused Cllr Stanley of using generic social media comments and national political generalisations to suggest that Reform UK councillors hold prejudicial and homophobic views.

They also believe that, because Graham Bocking is the only Reform UK councillor serving the Tewkesbury borough, the “sweeping statements directly target his character and service record”.

The Lib Dem said his post is about support for the LGBT+ community. And that it highlights the impact of bullying and the link between Reform councils withdrawing support for Pride events, their obsession with removing Pride flags and councillors posting anti-LGBT+ views.

But Cllr Bocking said he was “deeply disappointed” that Cllr Stanley had “chosen to use his platform to take cheap political shots at another party”.

“As the only Reform UK councillor in Tewkesbury, some might mistakenly believe from his video that I hold homophobic views,” he said.

“I want to state categorically to all residents: I do not, I never have, and I never will.”

He has also explained why, in May last year, he voted against a proposal for Churchdown Parish Council to fly the Pride flag in June.

Instead he put forward a successful amendment to fly the Union flag that whole month which would “maintain institutional neutrality while remaining inclusive”.

“During the debate, the majority voted to fly the Union Flag, viewing it as an inclusive symbol for all residents regardless of religion, creed, or sexual orientation,” Cllr Bocking, who is also a Churchdown parish councillor, said.

“Notably, 40 per cent of those voting for the amendment had stood for election as Liberal Democrats.

“Given the upcoming calendar of various cultural and religious festivals, members noted that the parish cannot practically fly flags for every individual event.

“To maintain institutional neutrality while remaining inclusive, the Union Flag was selected as the sole symbol to be flown.”