A FORMER Brentwood councillor turned Talk TV host has set out his ambitions to return to politics as both the first Reform UK member on the borough council and the first Essex mayor reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
Russell Quirk has decided to stand as the Reform UK candidate for the upcoming Hutton South by-election. The position was left vacant following the sad death of Councillor Mark Reed, who died in July and had held the seat since 2009.
Originally a Conservative councillor, Mr Quirk left the Tories to join the Brentwood First party and, in 2014, helped oust his former party’s administration from control of the council.
The 57-year-old, who last represented Brentwood Borough Council in 2015, still cites his successful attempt to prevent the administration at the time from selling its town hall headquarters for redevelopment as one of his major accomplishments while a councillor.
He said: “I’m still the same Conservative I’ve always been. I left the Conservative Party in 2014 when I resigned the whip at Brentwood Council, along with several others, because locally and nationally, the Conservative Party left us. I didn’t leave it, it left us.”
He left politics to focus on his property businesses and has recently forged a career in TV and radio.
He now says he wants to return to the chamber to represent the people of Hutton South and be given the opportunity to become the mayor of Essex as a Reform UK candidate when elections are held in May 2026. He has been a Reform UK party member for the past two years.
He said: “Whoever is selected has to have political, business, and media experience. Guess who I think that is. I have a unique and broad experience that covers business, politics and media.”
So far, Thomas Bridge of the Conservatives has also said he will stand in the Hutton South by-election scheduled in October, while Louise McKinlay, also of the Conservatives, has been selected for the Essex mayoral election planned for May next year.
More candidates are expected to be announced for both elections in due course.
