Two Walsall Ex-Tories who attended Tommy Robinson march appointed directors at emerging right-wing political party
Two former Tories in Walsall have been appointed as regional directors for a new right-wing political party, Advance UK.
Councillor Jade Chapman, ward member for Rushall-Shelfield, joined Advance UK in November 2025.
It followed her resignation from the Conservative Party two months prior, after she attended the Tommy Robinson Unite the Kingdom March with husband Lee Chapman.
Lee stood as the Conservative candidate for the Pelsall by-election a week before the march, but came second to Reform UK candidate Councillor Graham Eardley.
Advance UK confirmed that both Jade and Lee have now been appointed as directors for the West Midlands region as its ‘national expansion accelerates’.
They are joined by five other regional directors, including the former Reform UK Scotland leader, Michelle Ballantyne.
Ballantyne quit Reform after she was suspended by the party for being the administrator of a Facebook group that featured racist and far-right material.
At the time Ballantyne said she hadn’t posted on the group or ‘exercised any admin rights’ in months.
Advance UK was formed last year by the former deputy leader of Reform UK, Ben Habib.
It has been described by some as far-right based on its policies but the party said it is founded on the ’rare’ principle ‘that the UK should be governed in the interests of its own people.’
National director, Richard Thomson, said: “The appointment of regional directors reflects Advance UK’s commitment to building a serious political movement from the ground up.
“While other parties talk about change, we are building it. Advance UK is a movement driven by clear principles and by the will of ordinary people who have had enough of politics being done to them rather than for them.”
