Reform leader denies election malpractice claims

A council leader in Essex has told the BBC he was eligible to stand in the polls this year, despite claims of election malpractice made against him by opponents on social media.

Adi Malviya, who is the Reform UK leader of Rochford District Council, listed his home address as being in Rayleigh when he stood to be a councillor in May.

But the road itself falls inside the neighbouring council area of Castle Point.

Malviya said he had "no comment to make on this and all these things put out are false". Reform said he had worked for a company in Hawkwell in the Rochford district since July 2024.

Under rules in England, to stand for election as a councillor, an individual has to be a registered local voter. Alternatively, they need to have lived, occupied a premises or had their principal place of work within the council district for the previous 12 months.

The BBC could find no address for Malviya within the Rochford council area.

But he was registered at an address in Billericay in 2026 - which is neither in Castle Point or Rochford - according to electoral register data.

Malviya said he voted according to the home address listed on his nomination paper for Rochford council. Asked if that meant he voted in the Castle Point council elections, he would not comment.

His home address in Castle Point is metres from the border with Rochford.

Malviya leads a minority administration on Rochford council after Reform became the largest political party on the authority. No one party has an overall majority.

When asked on Tuesday, the council leader would not explain how he qualified as being eligible for the Rochford election on 7 May.

Reform said Malviya had provided two and a half days of consultancy at Military Muckabouts in Hawkwell since 1 July 2024. The party said that made Malviya eligible to stand for the district council.

Nick Cooper from Military Muckabouts also confirmed Malviya had worked for the company. Cooper was Malviya's election agent and chairs the local Rayleigh and Wickford Reform branch.

Three days before the close of nominations to stand in the local elections, a company that Adi Malviya was a director of - 31 December Consulting - was moved from a Billericay address to the one listed as his home address in the Rochford election nomination papers.

A Rochford District Council spokesperson said it had no legal authority to investigate or take action "in respect of the matters raised at this stage".

"Any challenge to the validity of the nomination or the election result would need to be pursued by way of an election petition within 21 days of the election."

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