Ten Reform UK councillors in Derbyshire say they have resigned in protest over Nigel Farage’s leadership.

The group claimed an “increasingly autocratic manner” in which the party operates led to their decision, and said they feel the party “has lost its sense of direction” since Farage took over as leader.

The Derbyshire group’s leader, Alex Stevenson, was suspended as a member pending an internal investigation in December.

Some of the candidates he put forward for local elections had not passed the party’s vetting process, a Reform spokesperson said.

Stevenson, who stood for Reform UK in Amber Valley in the general election and came second, did not deny this.

“Apparently one of them shared a Tommy Robinson post a few years ago,” he told the BBC. “We have got no issue with that.”

He added the councillor in question, who he did not name, was a “good bloke”.

In a statement seen by the BBC, and first reported by the Guardian, the group added: “We believe that the current party management is either incompetent or malevolent, and we have lost all confidence in the leadership and its structures.”

The ten signatories include councillor Stevenson and nine others, who hold a mix of seats at county, town and parish level.

Nine of the ten appear to stand on Heanor and Loscoe Town Council in Derbyshire.

They said they had voted against the party’s constitution adopted in the autumn and that “lack of internal democracy remains a significant issue”.

The signatories added: “We have seen no meaningful steps taken towards democratising the Party, which we were promised.”

The councillors back Ben Habib, the former co-deputy leader, who they say was “unceremoniously sidelined”.

In a statement on X, Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s chairman said: “The leader of this group of “councillors” was suspended weeks ago by Reform for nominating candidates that failed vetting [and] fraudulently nominating candidates with an invalid DNO certificate.

“As a result of [the latter], several of these ‘councillors’ are illegitimate and new elections must be held. Reform stands for the highest standards in public life, and those who commit fraud will always be expelled.”

It comes after US tech billionaire Elon Musk said Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the party – but did not explain his reasoning.

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