Reform UK candidate for Rossington and Bawtry by-election campaigns against anti-social behaviour, potholes and waste

It was announced on Friday (October 20) that a by-election will be held in the Rossington and Bawtry ward after several people nominated themselves for councillor.

Nominees include Surjit Singh Duhre, standing for Reform UK, the right-wing party formerly known as the Brexit Party.

Mr Duhre previously ran for MP in the Doncaster Central constituency in 2019, and for the elected mayor of Doncaster in 2021.

In a campaign letter to residents, Mr Duhre wrote: “I am a happily married man, with two children, and I have lived in Doncaster for 43 years. I work for HM Courts and Tribunals.

“If elected, I promise to serve the needs of our residents, helping with whatever is affecting you daily. I promise to help to tackle anti-social behaviour, drug gangs, potholes, noisy neighbours, waste collection and attending community and police meetings on your behalf.

“Reform UK believes in freedom of thought and speech. To be able to say what we want to say. Freedom to work, to control our borders, stop mass illegal immigration, and to speak out for the working people who are sick to death of this tired two-party system that tells us what to do, usually without any consultation.

“Reform UK dares to say what most people are thinking. Our once proud country is broken. Help Reform UK to restore traditional values.”

During his 2019 election campaign, Mr Duhre was involved in a crash while driving the party’s campaign van.

The party claimed that he had been “run off the road” by supporters of “the left of politics”, however South Yorkshire Police stated they were not treating the incident as suspicious.

Mr Duhre will stand against Ken Guest for the Labour Party, Carol Greenhalgh for the Conservative Party and John Nolan Cooke, standing independently.

The elected councillor will work in the ward alongside Labour councillors Rachael Blake and Bob Anderson.

Residents will be able to vote in the by-election on Thursday, November 16.

Each candidate has been contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.