Doncaster Council: Resigned Reform UK councillor received £2,000+ from allowance before quitting
The Reform UK councillor who resigned two months after being elected in Doncaster was paid nearly £2,500 in his councillor allowance before calling it quits.
Sam Booth never attended a council meeting before he stepped away from his new elected role as Bentley ward councillor in July 2025.
A freedom of information request submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) to the City of Doncaster Council has revealed that Booth was paid £2,442.60 of his councillor’s allowance whilst in office.
Councillors have a basic allowance of over £15,000 per year, which is paid in 12 monthly instalments.
.jpeg?trim=12,0,18,0&width=640&quality=65)
The FOI request was submitted shortly after the council confirmed a by-election for residents of Bentley ward to choose Booth’s successor.
Following voting on August 21, 2025, Reform UK’s Isaiah-John Reasbeck was elected the new councillor – defending the seat for his party.
Sam Booth was due to attend only one meeting in his two months as a councillor – the post-election annual general meeting in May – but his attendance record states he was absent with apologies.
A Doncaster Reform UK spokesperson told the LDRS at the time that Booth had resigned for “personal reasons”.
Sources informed the LDRS that Booth, who was the youngest councillor in the May 2025 cohort, worked as a farmer and had struggled to balance both roles.
There are some elected members who receive additional allowances for additional responsibilities – called a special responsibility allowance (SRA).
It was revealed in the FOI request that the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, receives an additional £46,493 per year for her elected role – despite being entitled to more than £61,000.
The deputy mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, gets an SRA of over £19,000 – with other members of Ros Jones’ cabinet receiving an extra £15,300.
Committee chairs receive extra allowances also. Cllr Majid Khan gets an additional £9,838 as chair of the planning committee, whilst Cllrs Jason Charity, Karl Hughes and Rachel Reed receive £9,224 per year as chairs of the audit, licensing, and overview and scrutiny committees respectively.
Other roles – including the civic mayor, deputy civic mayor, chairs of the various scrutiny panels and committee vice-chairs – also receive SRAs, as do Cllrs Guy Aston and Steve Cox as group leaders for their respective parties.