Ex-Tory councillor joins right-wing Advance UK party

A former Tory councillor in Walsall has joined Advance UK, a political party backed by anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson.

Councillor Jade Chapman, who represents the Rushall-Shelfield ward, announced her resignation from the Conservative Party on September 18. 

The decision followed her attendance at the Tommy Robinson Unite the Kingdom march in London on September 13. 

Also in attendance at the march was her husband, Lee Chapman, who stood as a Conservative candidate in the Pelsall by-election the week prior. Councillor Chapman said Advance UK is the ‘first party that refuses to silence ordinary people’. 

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she said: “I have watched our British people become not just tolerant but suppressed.

“We now have equality and diversity processes that, instead of promoting fairness, are too often placing ethnicity ahead of ethics, pushing British families to the back of the queue for housing, benefits, healthcare, and jobs. 

“This is not equality. This is not justice. And the British people have had enough.”

Advance UK is a new right-wing political party which is led by Ben Habib, the former deputy leader of Reform UK. It has been described by some as far-right based on its policies and support from the likes of right-wing activists such as Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The party was due to hold its launch at a hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in September, but the labour-led Newcastle City Council, which owns the hotel, cancelled the booking on ‘health and safety grounds’. 

Councillor Chapman added: “For too long, no mainstream party has been willing to truly defend free speech. 

“Advance UK is the first party I’ve seen that refuses to silence ordinary people or shame them for raising concerns. Across the country, people feel unable to speak openly about what is going wrong because they fear being labelled, judged, or attacked. This is not how a healthy democracy functions.

“I am proud to announce that I have joined Ben Habib and Advance UK, a party that stands firmly for honesty, courage, and the protection of British values at a time when our country needs it most.”