June 18, 2025 - Reform UK councilors have not been formally invited to the 139th Durham Miners' Gala after taking control of the local authority.

Durham Miners Association (DMA) said the party had "chosen to criticize" the group publicly for its lack of invitation, but said it would not "abandon" its principles.

Nigel Farage's party won 65 of the 98 seats on Durham County Council in May and newly elected councilor Darren Grimes previously criticized the DMA's decision as the grandson of a Durham miner.

The 139th Gala will take place on July 12

A spokesman for Reform UK said the DMA "clearly holds the thousands of former miners and their families who voted for Reform in complete disdain".

The DMA said while everyone in Durham was welcome at the Gala, Reform councilors did not share the group's beliefs in "community, in the labor movement and in social justice" and so would not be given a platform at the event.

"We have not and will not abandon our principles," it added.

Getty Images An aerial photo of people marching as part of a previous Miners' Gala. They're walking across a stone bridge with various colorful banners.

The first parade took place in 1871 and has become an annual tradition, with banners from former pit villages being paraded through the city center.

Previously, the DMA did not invite the new Conservative MPs who won Red Wall seats in 2019 to the Gala over the party's historic treatment of miners.

A spokesperson for Reform said the leaders of the DMA were "political dinosaurs" and "completely out of touch with their members and the people of County Durham".

"Durham voters gave Reform UK an overwhelming majority on the council on 1 May," they said.

"The DMA clearly holds the thousands of former miners and their families who voted for Reform in complete disdain."

The Gala will take place on July 12.