Reform councillor charged with 35 offences including rape

Tuesday, 3 November 2026 at 15:45

A Reform UK councillor has been charged with 35 offences, including 12 counts of rape, and suspended by the party.

George Madgwick, a councillor on Hampshire County Council, has been suspended from Reform UK with "immediate effect", a party spokesperson said.

He has been bailed and is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on 25 November.

The charges against Madgwick, 37, relate to four victims, aged between 16 and 17 at the time of the alleged offences, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said.

They are said to have taken place between 2008 and 2021, both in Portsmouth and Wales.

Madgwick, of Portsmouth, has been charged with offences, which include:

Twelve offences of rape
Two offences of assault by penetration
Two offences of sexual assault
One offence of causing or inciting sexual exploitation of a child
Two offences of making indecent images of children
One offence of distributing an indecent image of a child
Eight offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Two offences of controlling or coercive behaviour
One offence of stalking
One offence of making threats to kill
One offence of false imprisonment
One offence of theft
One offence of criminal damage

Police launched an investigation in July 2025 after officers received a report of a sexual offence. On 6 January 2026, a man was arrested at an address in Wandsworth, London.

Madwick represents the North East Havant ward in Havant, Hampshire, and was elected in May 2026.

A spokesperson from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute George Madgwick for serious sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape.

"He has also been charged with making a threat to kill, false imprisonment and stalking.

"Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring the case to court.

"We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial. There should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in any way prejudice these proceedings."

Sky News