Aaron Newbury talks to Reform UK’s first London Assembly member

London Assembly member Alex Wilson

Alex Wilson has a lonely job. As Reform UK’s top man in London, he’s their only London Assembly member, relegated to a converted meeting room in City Hall, stuck between the larger offices of the Conservatives and Labour.

But when I meet Alex, he seems unperturbed in being but one of twenty-five members of the London Assembly. Living in London, with his husband and their two dogs (Malbec and Otto), Alex tells me he’s been involved in politics in one way or another since he was 15 years old, and now he’s hoping to play a part in reshaping the capital’s political map.

A former Conservative councilor in Redbridge, Wilson’s journey began early. “I joined the Conservative Party at the age of 15. Spent 21 years as a member of the Conservative Party,” he explains. During that time, he held a range of roles, from being a local councillor and cabinet member for planning and regeneration to working at the Tory Head Office between 2008 and 2011. “I’ve done pretty much everything apart from stand for parliament,” he adds.

So, what led this long-serving Tory to walk away? The answer, in his own words, is rooted in the pandemic and the lockdowns that came with it. For Wilson, some of the policies the Conservatives introduced were a betrayal of people like him, running small businesses.

“I never wanted a handout from government. But I wanted to be able to carry on trading, and I wasn’t able to effectively do that,” Wilson says. “If you’re a small company director, as I was, and still am, you were basically excluded, forgotten. As Chancellor, Rishi kept saying, ‘Oh, you’re a fraud risk,’ and that’s why we can’t do anything for you. And that really, really wound me up.”

The pandemic, he says, rebooted his political drive. It was what drove him from public affairs in the development sector, and back to the ballot box. “Lockdown came along and it kind of re-radicalised me.” He connected with Reform during that time. “Basically haven’t looked back since. I feel so much happier politically where I am now.”

What drives Wilson today, and keeps him motivated as he juggles politics and his public affairs business, is a commitment to ideals he says have stayed constant, even if his party affiliation has changed. “Individual freedom, liberty, free markets, growing economy… That’s what drives me,” he explains.

Wilson tells me that his focus is on local campaigning and practical solutions, with housing a major priority. He has been clear about his stance on the Green Belt, arguing for pragmatism in tackling London’s housing crisis.

“If in order to hit the targets that we need in order to deliver the housing that we need, then some degree of release from Green Belt has to be done, then I will go along with that. Not with any great kind of relish, [but] a sense of necessity.” He describes himself as “quite pragmatic” on the issue, and has called for better use of so-called ‘grey belt land’; previously developed sites within the Green Belt.

Reform’s local council targets in London reflect where Wilson believes disillusionment with the main parties is strongest. “Places like Havering, Bexley, Bromley, we’ve got very strong branches there,” he says. The party, he adds, is working towards contesting every ward in the capital.

Wilson is unflinching in his assessment of his previous party. “The Conservatives as a whole just feel like a tired, sort of spent force,” he says. He argues that Reform is now filling a space vacated by the Tories and insists that the party is serious about winning. “Five out of 650 [seats] doesn’t sound a huge amount, but psychologically, it’s so important…It showed that we could win in more than one place at once.”

Current polling, Wilson notes, places Reform UK three points ahead of the Conservatives in London, a remarkable position given the party’s newcomer status at City Hall. “Our poll… showed us in a clear second place for Westminster voting intention,” he says. With the next council elections taking place next year, Wilson believes the London political map could soon look very different.

And he thinks that lead could extend to the parliamentary elections, making no secret of his hope to stand for a London seat. “This is the team that I want to be part of, because it’s in parliament that you can really deliver the change that the country needs,” he says of Reform’s growing ambitions.

For now, Wilson remains focused on his assembly role, his campaigning work, and of course, Malbec and Otto. But if his predictions are right, we may hear much more from him, and Reform, in the years ahead.

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