Connah’s Quay councillor responds to backlash over joining Reform UK as residents demand by-election
A Connah’s Quay councillor has responded to the reaction to his decision to join Reform UK, saying he has not changed and that nothing will change for residents in the Golftyn ward.
Cllr David ‘Franko’ Richardson posted a statement on Facebook on Thursday morning after his move to Reform UK attracted close to 400 comments across two Facebook groups.
Deeside.com put a series of questions to Cllr Richardson ahead of publication, including whether he had approached Reform UK or whether the party had approached him.
He had not responded to those questions by the time of publication.
In the statement, Cllr Richardson said he had originally stood for election in May 2022 as part of a group of Independent councillors associated with fellow Connah’s Quay Central councillor Bernie Attridge.
He said the grouping had never been a political party and had fractured from its first meeting.
“From the very first meeting, the Grouping was fractured and a smaller group broke away, this continued and left me not really knowing what I was involved in,” Cllr Richardson said.
“We had Independents, True Independents, Eagles, and whatever else.”
He said he made a conscious decision to step back from any grouping and concentrate on his own ward.
On 24 September 2024, he said, he formally removed himself and asked the council’s monitoring officer, the official who maintains the register of councillors’ political groupings, to list him as unaligned.
He described his subsequent work in the ward, including litter clean-ups, fly-tipping casework, housing issues, pothole repairs, park improvements, and what he said was thousands of pounds of his own money donated to the Golftyn Residents Fund over nearly four years.
Cllr Richardson said the decision to join a party came down to a choice between walking away or joining up.
“I felt as a County Council, some things were not as expected by residents, that improvements should be easier, and the root cause it was not happening was politics, in my opinion,” he said.
“I either walked away and left all my good work go to waste, 4 years down the pan, or I joined a political party myself.”
He said his move to Reform UK did not change his commitment to the ward.
“Franko has not changed, he’s not gone, he’s not deserted his electorate,” he said.
“The Golftyn Residents Fund is here for us all to benefit from, I am here to help, listen and do what I can for all residents of Golftyn, CQ and the wider Flintshire.”
He addressed comments suggesting financial motivation behind the switch.
“Those piping up elsewhere saying I’m only doing it for the dollar, really do not know what I’m about,” he said.
“Some of the comments are hilarious, fair play. Kept me entertained on my nightshift last night, the lads were howling.”
The announcement that Cllr Richardson had joined Reform UK drew close to 400 comments across the Connah’s Quay Facebook group and Deeside.com’s own Facebook page.
The most common theme across both threads was a call for a by-election, with many residents arguing that voters had not elected a Reform UK councillor and should have the opportunity to choose again.
Others said they respected Cllr Richardson’s record in the ward but would not support him under the Reform UK banner.
A smaller number of commenters welcomed the move.
There is no legal mechanism in the UK that compels a by-election when a councillor changes political affiliation.
Reform UK now holds four seats on Flintshire County Council, with Cllr Richardson joining Cllr Kristian Salkeld (Leeswood), Cllr Helen Brown (Hawarden: Aston) and Cllr Ian Hodge (Holywell East).
Council elections in Flintshire are next due in 2027.
This article was amended on 17 April 2026. Cllr Richardson’s status on the Flintshire County Council register was recorded as non-aligned from 24 September 2024 until he joined Reform UK. The article previously described him as Independent. The wording relating to his response to Deeside.com’s request for comment was also amended to reflect the timing; he has since been in contact.
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