Exclusive:Barnsley Reform candidate has criminal conviction for crashing £41K motability car
Reform has repeatedly pledged to scrap the motability scheme, with MP Lee Anderson pledging to bring back blue three-wheelers.
A Reform UK candidate in Barnsley has a criminal conviction for driving offence in a £41,000 Toyota, bought in a motability scheme which Nigel Farage has pledged to scrap.
Diane Bryan is standing alongside her husband Stan as a Reform candidate in Cudworth in the local elections on May 7, with the party tipped to demolish Labour.
She said: “I’m fed up with dodging potholes, anti-social behaviour, vandalism, gangs of youths creating chaos, bins not collected on time, streetlights too dim, cars racing through our village and more.”
However, The Yorkshire Post can reveal the mum-of-four was found guilty of driving without due care and attention in court at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court in 2024, and was given six points and an £800 fine.
Dashcam footage shows Mrs Bryan’s car veering over to the other side of the road, colliding with two oncoming vehicles.
The drivers of the two oncoming cars walked away from the scene uninjured.
She insisted that when she tried to turn left round a bend the wheel refused to budge - and then 'white line' technology didn't kick in to pull her back when she crossed the central point.
Mrs Bryan got the brand new Toyota RAV4 Excel through the motability scheme just six months before she was involved in the smash in 2022.
The motability vehicle scheme allows people who receive mobility personal independence payments (PIP) to trade their payments in for an adapted vehicle.
Mrs Bryan has a spinal cord lesion in her neck and is paralysed down the right-hand side.
However, Reform UK has criticised the motability scheme and pledged to scrap it. MP Lee Anderson recently said: “Personally, I think the motability scheme has got completely out of hand.
“I remember back in the day if you were on disability and you wanted a car on the state it was a blue three-wheeler. What’s wrong with that? Let’s go back to that.”
Speaking about Mrs Bryan’s case, deputy leader Richard Tice said: “We're a massive critic of the motability scheme. Have I studied the individual cases of 4,900 and something candidates? No.
“When people raise issues, do we look at them? Yes. The motability scheme itself was well intentioned, but I fear, has been overused and abused. Most people would accept that."
Kevin Hollinrake, Thirsk and Malton MP and Conservative Party chairman, said: "Of course the motability scheme should support those with serious mobility needs, that’s what it exists for.
"However, providing vehicles costing £41,000 seems completely at odds with fairness for taxpayers, and what Reform have pledged.
"Reform should set out clearly if they think this is a fair use of taxpayers’ money or if this Reform UK candidate is taking Barnsley taxpayers for a ride.”