Hartlepool Councillor Slams Labour Leader Over ‘Free’ Service Claim and Paid Role..
- Apr 26
- 3 min read
Hartlepool Reform Councillor Calls Out Labour Leader for ‘Self-Serving’ Claims and Salary Boost...
26th April 2026
Hartlepool Reform UK councillor Aaron Roy who defected from the Labour Party several weeks ago has launched a blistering online attack on the town’s Labour council leader Pamela Hargreaves Brash, questioning both the process by which she assumed the leadership of the council and the claims she made about her voluntary service.
The spat erupted yesterday evening after Pamela Hargreaves Brash, the wife of the Labour MP Jonathan Brash who's led the troubled Teesside council in recent months, posted on social media defending herself against alleged criticism over her role.
In a post published online, Cllr Hargreaves insisted she'd taken the position as leader of Hartlepool Borough Council “for FREE” over the past six months, giving her “heart and soul” to the borough while enduring public abuse and personal sacrifice. She then went on to warn that a Reform-led council would “cost the taxpayer more” through higher councillor allowances, despite offering few other policy details.
A Done Deal, Cllr Roy Claimed
Roy responded sharply, disputing Hargreaves’ account of events, pointing out that she was not asked by the broader council or by local residents to take on the leadership of the council, and claimed the decision had been made by “a small few” and presented as a done deal.
In a scathing post, Roy said:
“To frame it as a sacrifice done ‘FOR FREE’ doesn’t reflect the full picture. Leadership isn’t charity—it comes with responsibility, scrutiny, and accountability. The only time many people saw real engagement was during the campaign, standing beside your husband, taking credit for work delivered by council officers. You can’t now rewrite that as selfless service.”
The row intensified after it emerged that Hargreaves, just weeks into her new 'unpaid' leadership role at Hartlepool Borough Council then received a paid chairmanship role from the Hartlepool Development Corporation, boosting her income by £15,120 a year for a role she's only committed to for three days a month. Roy’s post highlighted the apparent contrast between Hargreaves’ online claims of unpaid sacrifice and her remuneration for the apparent part-time position she was 'gifted' by the Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen.
He added:
“If the role has been difficult, that’s understood, but that’s part of stepping forward. It doesn’t make legitimate questions disappear. This isn’t about headlines or allowances, it’s about how decisions were made and whether they truly reflected the people of Hartlepool.”
The exchange comes amid Labour’s warnings that a Reform-led council would increase councillor allowances, a point Hargreaves highlighted in her post as evidence of proposed higher costs under a potential change in leadership.
Locals living in Hartlepool are set to go to the polls in less than a fortnights time in the May 2026 local elections where a 3rd of Hartlepool Borough Councils seats are set to be contested, a large number of those currently held by Labour Councillors, with one source telling the Teesside & Durham Post that Labours bid to hold Hartlepool appears 'lost' & that quietly, Labours resounded to the fact that they are set to lose control of the local council which they only regained from a coalition of Conservatives & Independents back in 2024, with Labour Leader Hargreaves- Brash among those widely tipped set to lose their council seat in just weeks.
