Reform UK councillor Darren Grimes has admitted to using an AI-generated image in a blog post concerning housing issues in Durham, which he claimed depicted London councils "quietly shifting" tenants, including "recent refugees and homeless families," to the North. The image, showing non-white men in tracksuits near a coach, was presented alongside claims that hundreds of households had moved from London to County Durham in two years, impacting local housing waiting lists. Grimes defended the use of the AI image as "obviously for illustrative purposes," asserting that the focus should be on the issue of southern councils allegedly using the North as a "dumping ground." He also outlined plans to prioritize veterans and domestic abuse victims for housing, proposing an increase in the local connection rule to two years.