A recently-elected Reform UK Swindon Borough council member has left the party.
Cllr Lawrence Davies, who faces a string of motoring charges, has represented the Rodbourne Cheney ward alongside fellow Reform UK councillor Derek O'Hanlon since the local government elections in early May.
He accuses the party of telling councillors how to vote, what to say, to use AI in preparing questions and speeches, and of threatening removal of the whip for anybody who dissents.
He has announced his decision to quit the party and represent the ward as an independent.
Following that announcement, Reform UK was reported as retorting that he had been suspended because of motoring charges, but Cllr Davies insists that he was honest about the allegations against him as soon as they were laid and before they became charges.
Cllr Davies said of his former party's comments: "I believe it was a reaction to my decision to leave, that it was vengeance."
The councillor said of his time as a Reform UK councillor: "We were told what to do and there were threats from the party whip if people did not follow everything that the officers told them to do.
"I made it clear that I'm opposed to a party whip."
He added: "I disagreed, like many of the councillors, with the reliance on AI to write speeches and questions. I think members should be allowed to speak their own words.
"I would say that most of the members are inexperienced and just let the leaders tell them what to do, because only myself and Cllr Lovell [Reform UK councillor for Freshbrook ward Cllr Colin Lovell] have been elected before."
Cllr Davies previously served as a UKIP councillor in Southend.
As an independent, and rejects any notion of a by-election as unfair to those who elected him.
"I can represent them just as well as an independent," he said, and pledged to represent all of the people of his ward and the people of Swindon, irrespective of their political alignment.
"As an independent councillor I can truly be independent, and I can vote on my conscience."
Cllr Davies added: "I have nothing against Reform but I'm just very disappointed with the way they have chosen to behave.
"I feel that as an independent I can do a better service for my community."
The May local government elections saw control of Swindon Borough Council pass from Labour to the Conservatives, with the latter winning 23 seats, Labour winning 19, Reform UK 14 and the Liberal Democrats one.
Cllr Davies was appointed Reform UK Swindon's shadow member for Waste and Streetscene, and as recently as Saturday 22 August was among more than 40 Borough and parish councillors from across Swindon who joined forces with community volunteers to contribute to The Big Town Centre Clean-Up.
He said afterwards: "I was pleased to support the clean-up effort and work alongside councillors from across the political spectrum and community volunteers.”
Wiltshire Police said in a statement: "A man has been charged with a number of driving offences following an incident in Swindon.
"Lawrence Davies, 54, of Moredon, has been charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop after a road collision, being a driver of a vehicle involved in a collision and failing to report that collision, and driving without insurance.
"He has been bailed to appear before Swindon Magistrates’ Court on 24th September.
"These charges relate to an incident which took place on the evening of 13th April in Kingsdown Road, Swindon."
Reform UK Swindon has been approached for comment.
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