Labour call on Reform’s Matt Goodwin to reject ‘racist content’ shared by team members | Politics
Reform England’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election should distance himself from “racist content” shared by members of his campaign team, Labor has said.
Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell wrote in a letter to Matt Goodwin MP. Manchester Mill It was revealed that five separate members who campaigned with Goodwin shared racist content on the internet and supported far-right groups.
Goodwin hopes to become Reform England’s ninth MP in the hotly contested seat of Manchester, where Labour’s 13,000-vote majority could be overturned by a Reform or Green candidate.
Citing research by anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate, the report highlighted social media posts by Adam Mitula, Goodwin’s interim campaign manager in Tameside. This includes his suggestion that “60-70%” of transgender people are pedophiles, his suggestion that he would “never touch a Jewish woman,” and his use of the n-word.
The Guardian also found tweets in which Mitula claimed there were “ghettos in the UK that Muslims can’t enter”. He also wrote, in response to a post about Black fathers: “They are the best at leaving family [mums] without any support. But those who care about families are very good people.”
The campaign manager also expressed support for online influencer Andrew Tate, despite Romanian and British authorities actively investigating him on suspicion of human trafficking and rape. “Very well said by the potential future prime minister,” Mitula wrote in September last year in response to an interview Piers Morgan had with Tate.
The Mill also reported a photo of another person campaigning with Goodwin, named Kelly Cooling, who allegedly showed her support for the far-right Britain First Party last summer.
Alanna Vine, who was photographed with Goodwin during the campaign, was reportedly suspended by the Conservative Party in 2022 for “social media posts deemed discriminatory against Islamic believers,” according to Manchester Mill.
Goodwin’s campaign has been mired in controversy since he was announced as Reform England’s candidate in late January. Just this week, she was accused of wanting a “Handmaid’s Tale future” after YouTube footage from 2024 emerged in which she called for a “biological reality” check on “young girls and women.”
Goodwin may not have been aware of the comments “when they offered to help with your campaign,” Powell said in the letter, but you are now aware of it.
“You can make sure they will not be part of your campaign in the future, make it clear that you disagree with their vile views and make it clear that racism and conspiracism like this is not welcome in Reform and is incompatible with campaigning for you,” the letter said.
“If you don’t distance yourself from the views of these supporters now and take action to remove them from your campaign, people will conclude that you and Reform UK are happy to be associated with them.”
Reform UK and Adam Mitula have been contacted for response.
