A Plymouth Reform UK councillor has failed to declare that she was already serving as a councillor elsewhere.
Councillor Vanessa Tyler (Reform UK, Plympton St Mary) also serves as a councillor at Shaugh Prior Parish Council.
Despite Cllr Tyler having served as a Shaugh Prior parish councillor for more than 15 years, she did not mention the role anywhere on her Plymouth City Council (PCC) register of interests.
Under the PCC Code of Councillor Conduct, councillors are required to disclose these interests and keep them up to date, notifying the Monitoring Officer within 28 days of becoming aware of a new or changed interest.
Her PCC register of interests, published on 15 May 2026, recorded "none" under employment and had no mention whatsoever of her membership o Shaugh Prior Parish Council.
Meanwhile, in her Shaugh Prior Parish Council register of interests - which she signed just 17 days later - she described herself as a "self-employed beauty therapist" as well as a member of Reform UK and a PCC councillor.
Plymouth Plus offered Cllr Tyler the right of reply over this code of conduct breach, but she did not respond.
However, she has since taken steps and today (9 September) updated her PCC register of interests so that it is now an accurate reflection of her interests.
It comes after Cllr Tyler previously sparked controversy after she endorsed a Facebook post which claimed border guards should be allowed to "open fire on illegal migrants if they attempt to forcefully cross".
At the time, Councillor Steve Ricketts, leader of the Plymouth Reform UK group, said: "Cllr Vanessa Tyler deleted her post and privately apologised to the group. We believe in second chances and felt that no further action needed to be taken."
A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said:
"The Council’s monitoring officer is able to advise elected members about the requirements for registering interests to help ensure they are compliant. Members can update the register to reflect any new relevant information.
"We aren’t able to comment on any individual discussions but the register of interests is a public document that is available for anyone to review."
A spokesperson for Reform UK said:
"Cllr Tyler’s employment and her memberships of the parish council and Reform UK are already fully disclosed in her interest registers and publicly available online.
"She has now ensured the same information is recorded on her Plymouth City Council register for complete transparency."
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