Why the Deception and Democratic Deficit in Reform’s Launch in Oldham & Saddleworth?

While Oldham residents hoped for genuine change, is Reform’s newly appointed Oldham chairman making backroom deals with Pakistani sectarians and undermining the very people Reform claims to represent?

For those looking to the Reform Party for genuine change in Oldham, recent developments should raise serious questions. The undemocratic appointment of PAUL ERROCK as chairman of the Oldham & Saddleworth Reform branch – and his covert discussions with gangster linked leaders of the Pakistani sectarian 'Oldham Group' – reveal troubling practices that betrays the spirit of true reform.

There was no democratic process in ERROCK’s appointment as chairman. No open meeting was held for local members to elect their leader, no member involvement in the branch’s setup, and no vote on key decisions, such as adding "Saddleworth" to the branch’s name or deciding which wards to contest in the 2026 election. Instead, ERROCK has taken it upon himself to select candidates for all 20 wards as though Oldham were his personal fiefdom and he the Sheriff of Saddleworth.

Imagine an alternative: Reform UK should have gathered its Oldham members for an open meeting, where they could elect their own chairman. Decisions like the branch's title and election strategies could have been discussed openly, with a transparent, rigorous candidate selection process.

Instead, this resembles the "fake independent" setups already in place across Oldham, where democratic structures are bypassed by self-appointed "leaders". ERROCK, HINCE, HOBIN and HURLEY are all cut from the same cloth in this respect. Fronting political parties with questionable, if not imaginary, democratic structures is in complete contradiction to what Reform claims to stand for.

Changing the name of the Proud of Oldham & Saddleworth Facebook page to Reform Oldham and Saddleworth only underscores the deception, exploiting thousands who thought they were supporting a truly local movement independent of a 'whip'.

The decision to incorporate "Saddleworth" into the name of the branch, at the cost of historical towns like Royton, Chadderton, and Shaw, or even the people of Failsworth, more than sidelines these communities. Through his Saddleworth first prejudice, ERROCK alienates the very working class people Reform claims to represent.

By the way, there is no such thing as an Oldham & Saddleworth constituency as claimed by ERROCK in his announcement. He's just made that up. He should know, he recently stood in the recent General Election as a candidate in Oldham East & Saddleworth, bizarrely as an independent rather than as a representative of his own political party.

The people of Oldham deserve transparency, real democracy, and genuine reform, not a rebranding of past failures and a continuation of stirring up racial hatred where a previous POAS leader openly chants TOMMY ROBINSON songs and others regularly promote genuine far right beliefs. If Oldham needs Reform, rebranding a failed political party, where its leaders nibble samosas with Pakistani sectarians in secret, whilst race baiting the working-class White in public, is not the way to go about it.

If ERROCK believed in democracy, his first action would be to call a branch meeting where all members elected a chairman, treasurer and secretary to take Reform forward in Oldham. Instead, what we are witnessing is the typical self promotion, duplicity and undemocratic processes that destroyed the independent movement in this borough. Oldhamers should not be pawns in the games played by millionaire politicians from their Saddleworth mansions. We deserve better than this.

Do Not Fear Them. Do Not Fear Any Of Them.

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