Key Points
- Resignation Declared: Steve Chilcott has resigned from his post as Reform UK’s Ealing branch chair after holding the office for two years on account of personal reasons.
- Leadership Changeover: After the resignation of Mr Chilcott, his deputy, Lee Marriott, is now the new branch chair.
- Still In The Fold: Despite leaving the leadership post, Mr Chilcott still remains a party member and supporter of Reform UK and plans to keep an eye on the politics of the area.
- Electoral Contributions: While leading the branch, Mr Chilcott saw Reform UK’s participation in the Ealing Council elections held in May, in which the party presented 61 candidates in all 24 wards and got 32,959 votes (vote share of 10.8%) without winning any council seats.
- Election Experience: Mr Chilcott ran in South West constituency in the 2024 London Assembly election and Ealing Southall in the 2024 general election.
uk/local/ealing/">Ealing (West London Times) September 09, 2026 — The chair of Reform UK’s Ealing branch, Steve Chilcott, has stood down after two years in the role, citing “personal considerations”.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott stated that he had reached the point where he believed it was right to step back. While relinquishing the leadership, he remains a member and supporter of Reform UK, while his former deputy, Lee Marriott, has taken over as branch chair.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott stated:
“I feel that I have done my bit for Reform and have reached the point where it is right for me to step back. There were personal considerations behind my decision, and after giving it a great deal of thought, I decided that the time was right to move on from the role.”
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott first disclosed the change in a post on X last week on 3 September 2026, saying he had received “so many truly heart-warming messages” after standing down. He had served as chair since Reform UK began establishing its local branch network and noted that Ealing was the first of the party’s London branches to meet, in September 2024. Initially, Mr Chilcott chaired a combined branch covering Ealing, Brent and Hounslow before separate branches were established in the two neighbouring boroughs.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott remarked:
“I have given a great deal to building the party both locally and across London.”
How did Reform UK perform in Ealing under his leadership?
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott described May’s Ealing Council elections as a particular highlight of his time as chair. Reform fielded 61 candidates, with at least one standing in each of the borough’s 24 wards, though the party did not win any of Ealing Council’s 70 seats.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott stated:
“I led the campaign to recruit, select and support 61 candidates across Ealing, jointly the highest number of candidates fielded by Reform in any London borough, and worked hard throughout the campaign to build our organisation and increase our support. Although we were disappointed not to win any councillors, I was very proud of the campaign and the progress we made.”
Reform candidates received a combined 32,959 votes across the borough, equivalent to a 10.8% share. Labour retained control of Ealing Council with 46 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats won 13 seats, the Conservatives and Greens five each, and an independent secured the remaining seat.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott argued that Reform’s failure to win a seat did not mean its campaign had been unsuccessful, explaining:
“We significantly increased the visibility of Reform across the borough, built an organisation capable of fielding 61 candidates and established a much stronger electoral presence than the party had previously had. I think the result demonstrated both the potential and the challenge for Reform in Ealing. We secured a significant share of the vote in a number of wards and came particularly close in several places.”
In Greenford Broadway, Reform candidate Terri Beniatian finished fourth with 907 votes, 269 behind the lowest-polling of the three elected Labour candidates. In Northolt Mandeville and Northolt West End, Reform’s highest-polling candidates finished fifth, trailing the Labour candidates who secured the third and final seats by 472 and 534 votes respectively.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott noted:
“Those results demonstrate that Reform is capable of building a substantial electoral base in Ealing, a borough where Labour has traditionally been extremely dominant.”
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What is Steve Chilcott’s political background?
Before becoming branch chair, Mr Chilcott stood as Reform UK’s candidate for the South West constituency in the 2024 London Assembly election, finishing fifth out of six candidates with 14,450 votes. He subsequently contested Ealing Southall at the 2024 general election, finishing sixth out of 11 candidates with 2,585 votes, while Labour’s Deirdre Costigan won the seat with 23,000 votes.
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott confirmed he would continue to follow local politics and support Reform UK from the sidelines, stating:
“Stepping down as branch chair does not mean that I have abandoned the political causes or principles that brought me into the party in the first place. I will now support Reform from the sidelines and continue to take an interest in local politics and the issues affecting Ealing residents.”
As reported by Leslie Bunder of Ealing.News, Mr Chilcott concluded:
“I wish Reform UK and the Ealing branch every success for the future. I have spent a considerable amount of time building the branch and supporting its candidates and volunteers, and I leave the role feeling that I have done my bit.”
Background of the particular development
The resignation of Steve Chilcott marks a transitional phase for Reform UK’s local political infrastructure in West London. Over the past two years, the party has sought to transition from a national protest movement into an established municipal force by setting up local branches across the capital. Ealing was among the pioneering branches established in September 2024, initially managing a broad geographic footprint before splitting into localized administrative units.
The May 2026 local elections served as a critical stress test for these grassroots networks, allowing parties like Reform UK to measure voter traction in historically dominant Labour strongholds such as Ealing, where local electoral dynamics have traditionally favored the incumbent administration and established opposition parties like the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.
The transition of leadership from Steve Chilcott to Lee Marriott is expected to test the organizational resilience of Reform UK’s Ealing branch as it attempts to maintain the momentum generated by its 2026 local election campaign. With a substantial vote share of 10.8% and dozens of candidates embedded across the borough’s wards, the new branch leadership will face the challenge of converting its baseline electoral support into sustained local activism and council scrutiny.
Without Mr Chilcott at the helm, the local branch’s ability to retain volunteer engagement, engage with Ealing residents on community-specific issues, and mount competitive challenges in future electoral cycles will depend heavily on Mr Marriott’s capacity to unify the existing membership base and expand the party’s local profile.
