‘Clearing my name is the biggest thing in my life’, Reform’s Neil Stevens says after High Court success

As the designated driver of the minibus he hired to travel to the High Court, Neil Stevens could only celebrate with a lemonade after his win.

While some of his supporters and legal counsel were opting for stronger or more expensive tipples at their chosen London bar, the most potent thing the Alphington & Cowick councillor was imbibing was the outcome of his efforts to clear his name.
“Clearing my name is the biggest thing in my life,” he says, breaking his silence over the saga, “as I have a good reputation in the army”.
The former soldier was in 1997 awarded the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal, of which only 13 are given per year, and he recalls the ceremony at Windsor Castle as “the scariest day of my life and I’ve been in numerous scrapes” given his three tours of Afghanistan.
“The third tour was the nastiest,” he recalls.
Turning back to his most recent skirmish on home soil, he states he has had to “keep very quiet these past few months, but I know the truth and I trusted an individual in good faith”.
“I’ve realised politics can get quite messy.”
Cllr Stevens launched and funded an application for relief in the High Court after finding himself at the centre of an election expenses row which ignited after a member of his own party reported him to the police.
Councillor Ed Hill (Independent, Pinhoe & Mincinglake), a former Reform UK member who had been the election agent for Cllr Stevens, reported him to the authorities over claims about errors on his election expenses form, and also reported Cllr Stevens’ brother, Tony Stevens (Reform UK, Exwick & St Thomas), and Rob Sheridan, who became the pair’s election agent after relations between Cllr Hill and the brothers became strained.
Cllr Neil Stevens said while he had received lots of support between the issue being made public in June and the High Court hearing earlier this month, it had taken a toll on his family.
“It had a big impact,” he said.
“When I went on holiday with my family I spent all my time writing my affidavit. I’d get up in the mornings and write passionately, and Rob [Sheridan] put so much effort into evidence gathering.
“Rob’s emotions were clear to see in court, it really had put a lot of strain on all of us and affected me as deputy leader of the Reform group.”
Cllr Stevens added he and his team submitted 127 pieces of evidence with the affidavits.
The married father-of-three, who also has a step-daughter, impresses the importance of clearing his name for his family’s sake, including due to the fact one of his children works for Devon County Council, which he is elected to.
“I’m not a career politician but I took this mantle on as I think the country needs to change and some people call Reform right-wing, which I’m not, and while I can’t change everything, I needed to do something and I did it for my grandkids,” he said.
“My grandson means everything to me, and if I didn’t clear my name,” he tails off, seemingly considering the possibility of his grandson getting older and discovering the whole saga.
But there’s also further political ambition too.
“I want to put my name forward as MP,” he said
“And I’m not saying I will be, as there is a selection process, but if I put my name in the hat and I didn’t clear my name,” he adds, suggesting that could have been a problem for any potential future candidacy.
Sitting outside a Turkish cafe next to Exeter Central train station, Cllr Neil Stevens acknowledges that mistakes were made on the official form that councillors have to submit as a record of their expenditure for their official campaigning over a specific period of time known as the regulated period.
These errors, compounded by a mistaken belief that donations could be discounted from his spending, meant his form suggested he had spent more than the limit that applied to the division he was running in.
But as Mr Justice Martin Spencer stated about Cllr Stevens at the High Court hearing this month, “there has been no bad faith on his part”.
Crucially, Mr Justice Spencer said he “wholly accepts” Cllr Stevens’ explanation, and agreed that some of the expenses on the form should not have been included because they related to activity prior to the regulated period. That meant his election expenditure was actually below the limit he was allowed to spend, even after adding half of the cost of a podcast recording that should have been on his form but wasn’t.
The judge granted relief to Mr Sheridan, and stated relief was not even necessary in the case of Cllr Tony Stevens because “in my judgment, there was no breach of the rules or legislation in his case”.
“I still don’t know why Ed [Hill] did it,” Cllr Stevens said referring to events that led to the expenses controversy, most notably the decision to alert the media.
“I’m surprised about what came out of a situation that should have been resolved face-to-face first and internally.”
Cllr Stevens said he had, prior to the expenses issues arising, suggested Cllr Hill should relinquish his role as chairman of the Exeter branch of Reform UK once he [Cllr Hill] had become a councillor, believing that doing both would be too demanding for one person.
“Everything went downhill and to this day I don’t understand why he did it,” he added.
Cllr Stevens wonders if Cllr Hill wanted to remove him as a councillor and to prompt a by-election.
However, Cllr Hill said after the High Court hearing that at the time, he was advised to report the matter to the police, and as he still then held legal responsibility for the election expenses form as the agent, he had a “statutory duty to act”.
“My actions were purely based on a legal and ethical duty as election agent to report political irregularities once I became aware of them,” he said.
 “Failing to do so could have left me personally liable for aiding or concealing an offence,” Cllr Hill added.
“This was never personal. I took advice at the time which confirmed I had a statutory obligation to act, and failure to do so could have made me personally liable.
“I still stand by that position; transparency and accountability are essential in local democracy.”
In spite of the hiatus, Cllr Stevens believes Cllr Hill has “done us a favour”.
“It has made the Reform group in Devon County Council stronger than ever,” he said.
“We know other parties have internal issues too. They keep it quiet but this has made us stronger and better.”
Cllr Stevens said the party was gearing up for the Exeter City Council elections next year, but that he wouldn’t stand as a candidate “unless we don’t get the people and I have to”.
“I’m against the policy of being a double-hatter,” he said, referring to the situation where a councillor holds a seat on more than one council.
He added it had been “eye-opening” becoming a councillor, “like pushing a boulder”, and expressed disbelief at what he views as unnecessary bureaucracy.
“We need people to join Reform UK and be councillors as I don’t want to double-hat,” he said.
“My main goal is to be MP for Exeter, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to be and if there is someone better, then I will stand aside.”
Eyeing the last of his coffee, he’s got to get back to his day job that involves a broad array of home improvement work, such as installing kitchens and bathrooms, and which he hopes to be able to pass to family to run in the future.