Reform councillor used data from policy survey to promote partner’s steak restaurant

A Reform councillor used data collected in a political survey to help promote his social media and his partner's restaurant, an independent regulator has concluded.Councillor George Madgwick was found to have taken information from a survey to message residents about his Reform UK party policies without their permission.The 37-year-old's constituents were left receiving 'breaking news' messages and links to his social media posts.

The experienced restaurateur was also found to have promoted his partner, another Reform councillor's, steak restaurant using the list of contacts he had gathered.After a constituent complained, the case was taken to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who have now found that he breached data protection obligations.The investigation began after Portsmouth resident Scott Alexander completed a survey in late 2024 run by the Portsmouth Independent Party (PIP) where he provided his phone number and email address.

In May 2025 Mr Alexander began receiving unsolicited emails promoting the 'Steak and Roast' restaurant, run by his partner Councillor Emily Strudwick, now leader of the Reform UK group on Portsmouth City Council.Cllr Madgwick, who represents Paulsgrove, Wymering & Port Solent, is not officially listed as part of the business but is an experienced restaurateur and has often promoted the restaurant on his social media pages.After Cllr Madgwick defected from PIP to Reform UK in July 2025, Mr Alexander also began receiving text messages sent through mass SMS software containing 'breaking news' and links to the councillor’s political social media posts.

Mr Alexander said he had never given permission for his personal details to be used for political messaging or marketing.He publicly challenged Cllr Madgwick on social media, saying he had not consented to receiving Reform UK updates.He said that his post was deleted within an hour.

He then requested the privacy notice authorising the use of his personal information.Cllr Madgwick supplied a copy of the survey disclaimer, which Mr Alexander said fell 'woefully short of the requirements for collecting such information under the Data Protection Act'.He said: “The survey received over 4,000 responses, which means that, de facto, Cllr Madgwick is misusing a dataset of over 4,000 Portsmouth residents to pursue his own political agenda.

“He thinks he can get away with not following the law – it will catch up with him.”Mr Alexander later submitted two complaints, the first of which related to an Instagram livestream in which Cllr Madgwick published the confidential names of people who had made complaints against him.In December 2025, the council’s monitoring officer found the code had been breached, saying publicly naming the complainants, otherwise referred to as doxxing, was 'indicative of a bullying and or hectoring attitude'.

open image in galleryCouncillor George Madgwick used data collected in a political survey to help promote his social media and his partner's restaurant, an independent regulator has concluded (Portsmouth News/Solent News & Photo Agency)Mr Alexander then lodged a second complaint over the alleged misuse of data. In February 2026, the monitoring officer concluded the 'evidence is such that the code had been breached'.He added that sharing data from one source to the business without 'legitimate consent' could breach the Data Protection Act.

The monitoring officer recommended Cllr Madgwick apologise to Mr Alexander and make a self-referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) which is responsible for upholding information rights, enforcing major data privacy laws and regulating how organisations handle personal information.In April 2026, Mr Alexander queried why no apology had been issued as suggested. But Cllr Madgwick replied: “no apology will be issued to you as it is not deserved nor needed."

Now, after investigating for around 10 months, the ICO published its findings, upholding both of Mr Alexander’s complaints.The regulator said it was 'our view that Councillor George Madgwick has not complied with their data protection obligations'.It also said it 'appears' Cllr Madgwick failed to keep personal data secure under GDPR guidelines and that he 'has not complied with their data protection obligations' for the emails and text messages.

The ICO said it understood concerns that survey data belonging to other residents may also have been used without a clear or lawful purpose.The watchdog said it would write to Cllr Madgwick with advice on improving his data protection practices to help prevent similar incidents.Mr Alexander said: "I am very pleased that all of my complaints have been upheld."

Cllr Madgwick has said he hopes to clear his name and provide more evidence to the ICO.He said: “The ICO failed to contact me to respond to the complaint. I’ve written to the ICO to complain and ask for a review as the information submitted by Scott Alexander was inaccurate."

I have clear evidence that no breach occurred