Former Police and Crime Commissioner quits the Conservative Party

Angelique Foster during her time as police and crime commissioner. Image from Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

By Eddie Bisknell – Local Democracy Reporting Service

Derbyshire’s former Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has quit the Conservatives, with sources claiming she is poised to join Reform UK.

Cllr Angelique Foster, Derbyshire’s Conservative PCC from 2021 to 2024, and existing county councillor for the Dronfield Woodhouse and Walton division, has quit the Tories after 15 years in the party.

It is believed that Cllr Foster, who is also a Dronfield town councillor, will serve as an independent councillor in the interim, with sources claiming her aim is to join Reform UK.

If that application comes to fruition and is approved, Cllr Foster would be the second Conservative county councillor to swap parties for Reform in the past four months.

Cllr Paul Maginnis departed the Conservative group in October 2025, swapping the Tories for Reform and gaining the position of support cabinet member for education just five days later.

Cllr Foster’s exit also follows numerous national party changes in the Tory party, including Conservative MPs Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman switching to Reform UK.

Meanwhile, the incumbent Conservative PCCs for Lincolnshire and Devon & Cornwall have also both also resigned from the party in recent weeks.

The loss of Cllr Foster takes the Conservative group, the largest opposition party on the county council since May last year, down to 10 members.

Cllr Foster had contested the 2024 PCC election, aiming to be the second Derbyshire postholder to retain their spot, but lost to Labour’s Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts by 28,000 votes.

The role is now due to be scrapped by the Labour Government from May 2028.

During her time as PCC, Cllr Foster launched a campaign to reduce violence against women and girls, including recruiting specific officials to combat the issue, in the wake of several high profile incidents in the county.

Cllr Foster also called for CCTV cameras to be installed in all taxis, with a patchwork of policies continuing across the county, borough by borough, alongside many actions against speeding and promoting road safety.

She hit headlines in 2022 for claiming “being black doesn’t mean being vulnerable” when asked for her response to a report on the Met Police’s strip-search of a 15-year-old black girl in London.

Cllr Foster reappointed the £30,000 role of Deputy PCC two years after it was dropped by the previous Labour postholder, appointing then 26-year-old Robert Flatley, a support county council cabinet member and borough councillor.

She was elected to the county council in 2017, was the cabinet member for council services from 2021 to 2025.

As a cabinet member, Cllr Foster oversaw the transfer of some design and construction services, ground maintenance and cleaning and caretaking services to new joint venture companies shared with Suffolk County Council.

Cllr Foster declined to comment at this stage and said she would be issuing a statement in due course.

Cllr Alex Dale, Conservative opposition group leader, said: “I would like to thank Angelique for the very significant contribution she has made to the Conservative Party in Dronfield and across Derbyshire over more than 15 years. 

“She has been a close colleague and a friend, and someone I have worked with on a wide range of local and county issues. 

“I am personally disappointed and saddened that she has felt the need to leave the Party.

“Ultimately, it is important for everyone to act in line with their own beliefs and conscience, and I respect Angelique’s right to make that decision.

“However, I do fundamentally disagree with her conclusion. Under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership, the Conservative Party is making real strides forward and renewing itself to be fit to govern again. 

“We remain the only party clearly standing up for genuine Conservative values, like enterprise, freedom, family, truth, and a sound economic approach, at a time when all the other parties appear to offer little more than different blends of socialism. 

“That positive Conservative direction is also being backed up by the serious and credible policy announcements the Party has been making and I believe in time we will win the support and trust of the British people again.”

Cllr Alan Graves, Reform’s county council leader, declined to comment.