A Reform UK councillor has been charged with 12 counts of rape, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
George Madgwick, the leader of the party on Hampshire county council, has been charged with a total of 35 offences, including two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault by penetration, two counts of making and one count of distributing indecent images of a child.
The 37-year-old will appear at Portsmouth magistrates court on 25 November. A Reform spokesperson said he had been suspended from the party with immediate effect.
A CPS spokesperson said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute George Madgwick for serious sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape. He has also been charged with making a threat to kill, false imprisonment and stalking.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring the case to court. We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial. There should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
Hampshire police said they launched their investigation on 24 July last year after receiving a report of a sexual offence. Officers then arrested a man in Wandsworth, south-west London, on 6 January.
The force said the allegations related to four victims, who were aged 16 and 17 at the time and are alleged to have taken place between 2008 and 2021 in Portsmouth and Wales.
