[5] In 2007, Reilly left the UUP and then went on to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP), becoming its first councillor in Northern Ireland.
[9] Reilly stood as UKIP's candidate at the 2014 European Parliament election, taking seventh position, with 24,584 first preference votes.
[12][13] After a suspension of two months, UKIP's National Executive Committee formally expelled Reilly from the party in November 2015.
[14][15] After briefly sitting as an Independent, Reilly then joined the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) that same year, continuing to serve on the council.
Just three months later, in February 2017, Reilly began publicly supporting the DUP and formally endorsed Jim Wells in the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly Election.