“Winning really wasn’t a given,” said Dan Bradley, who won the Rye seats for Reform UK on both the district and county councils in last week’s local elections. “Even on the day of the count I was thinking ‘No, I don’t think so’ whilst all the other candidates were telling me ‘You’ve got this’.”
After last week’s ballots the 37 year old from Iden will represent the Rye and Eastern Rother ward on East Sussex County Council, along with being one of the Rye and Winchelsea councillors on Rother District Council. Sworn in on both councils earlier in the week he has also attended Rye Town Council and Icklesham Parish Council meetings.
Reform now has the biggest bloc of councillors on East Sussex County Council, though with no overall majority. He expects scrutiny for his own role. “People might say you haven’t done much in your first six months. Well, you probably won’t have seen it. I’m hoping I can try and make the community stronger.” Scrutiny too for Reform. “It’s not going to be this weird state where everyone has to pledge allegiance to the flag every day. You can be proud of your country and still get along with different views.”
The winner in both polls with over 30% of the votes, he is keen to be seen to represent everyone in Rye. “I don’t want people to think I’m waving a Reform banner and only going to listen to them. Almost the complete opposite. I’m not focused on one point of view at all. I want to be visible. If people see me in a pub or restaurant, come and talk to me.”
“I am Reform, yes. I believe in what the party stands for,” he said. “We need to make sure people here are looked after first. Hopefully one day we’ll be in a position where we can support everyone properly, but right now we’ve got more money going out than coming in. Councils are borrowing just to stay afloat and the interest rates are outrageous. Somewhere we have to draw the line and start fixing what we’ve got. Immigration’s good if it’s done the right way but what we can’t have is people just coming in here and saying ‘Can I have lots of free stuff’ when we’ve got people in dire need of help first.”
He acknowledges not everyone is happy Rye now has a Reform councillor, not least with the party policy on immigration. “I hope people just don’t read what they see on the internet. For some reason people don’t think you can have different points of view and get along. I don’t know where that’s come from. I’ve been friends with people from lots of different points of view and I want to be here for everyone.”
Much of the opposition has played out online he said, notably on Facebook. “It’s keyboard warriors. They don’t know me but form opinions. Someone said I’m a career politician who takes bribes. I’ve never been in politics before. The only thing I’d take in bribes is probably cake. People throw things to see what sticks.”
One criticism particularly hit home. “A lot of people say I’m against support for SEN children, but my own children are autistic and go to special schools. I’ve seen how difficult the system is.” He notes how huge amounts of the East Sussex County Council budget goes on both youth and adult social care.
So why does he think he was elected? Was it his appeal or because of Nigel Farage or Keir Starmer? “It’s bit of all three probably. Lots of people said they’d never vote Labour while Keir Starmer is in charge. Some voted Reform because they wanted change. But a lot of people also said, ‘I’d never normally vote Reform, but I’m voting for you as a person.’ They thought I’d listen to everyone and try to do the best for our local communities.”
He has a military background and started the Marine Training Corps because he felt youth organisations had become buried in red tape. Veterans are a big priority, he said. “People are leaving the armed forces and living under Hastings Pier. These people have actually put themselves on the line to make sure that we’re safe. The least we can do is make sure we’ve got a roof over their head.”
“Reform sometimes gets portrayed as saying ‘Everything’s broken and only we can fix it’,” he said.” I don’t see it that way. We can fix things together but I can’t walk in and flick a switch and tomorrow everything will be better. You see things every day like roads, homelessness, people struggling and think ‘Is this as good as it can be?’ I can’t moan unless I try to change it.”
As an Iden resident, he has first-hand knowledge of something he wants to help fix urgently – potholes. “The Iden road is the worst in the county. I’ve had all four tyres blown on my car because of it. I may be new but I can come in and ask questions and keep pushing until I get a proper explanation. I’m not just going to nod along or read from a script.” He’s already had conversations about a solution to the derelict public toilets in Winchelsea and Winchelsea Beach. Finding ways to support Camber is also on his list.
He paid tribute to his predecessor Keith Glazier, the Conservative who stood down after almost 30 years as councillor for Rye and Eastern Rother on East Sussex County Council. “A fantastic individual. He’s done such a good job representing Rye. I only hope I can do what he’s done. Really big shoes to follow.”
He will represent Rye on the two councils until they are abolished and replaced in 2028. Then what? “If there is a possibility of me staying on as a councillor I would be interested but let’s see how well I do here.” Westminster? The Hastings and Rye candidate for Reform UK? “I would put my hand up yes, but I need to prove myself first.”
Getting elected has come very quickly. Dan Bradley only quit his job with the Ministry of Defence four weeks ago. He was only selected as the Reform UK candidate last month and as well as the campaigning he has had a car crash and (most importantly) he got married two weeks ago – but no honeymoon so far. “Not yet. My wife Vitalija wasn’t exactly thrilled about that!”
Image Credits: James Stewart , BBC , Dan Bradley .