Farage under pressure to tackle racist Reform candidates who ‘spew hate online’
Reform UK candidates in this week’s local elections are seen supporting far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson and Nick Griffin, as well as their racist and Islamophobic views on social media. Independent can reveal.
Revelations of candidates running for the party in south-east England are raising concerns that Nigel Farage is failing to tackle extremism in his party, despite claiming that Reform’s vetting system is the best in British politics.
This also follows the failure of the Reformation to deal with candidates in the north of England. Independentespousing racist, misogynistic and homophobic views on social media.
While Reformation is expected to win more than 1,500 seats next week, there are concerns that failure to properly vet candidates will mean extremists will win seats across England.
Among the candidates accused of “spreading hate online” is Blackfen and Lamorbey ward Reform UK candidate Lynn Smith, who was previously a UKIP councilor in Bexley. He appears to have reposted a graphic featuring a photo of a Muslim woman and the text: “He hates Jews, Christians, atheists, homosexuals, dogs, bacon, wine, beer, your civilization, your culture, your traditions, your country and you. He complains about Islamophobia.”
He then appears to have said on X (formerly Twitter): “Has the NHS become the new Islam, criticize at your own risk?”
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Ms Smith also appears to have posted a photo of herself using a headscarf as a headscarf on Facebook: “I was thinking of becoming a Muslim as a reason to hide my pelican neck. Then again, I couldn’t give up alcohol.”
The Reform UK candidate has expressed support for Tommy Robinson, apparently despite Mr Farage’s efforts to distance himself from the far-right activist. Responding to Nick Ferrari’s post about Westminster terror attack suspect interviewing his friend, she said: “I used to be against Tommy [Robinson]“When the MSM was too cowardly to delve deeper into radical Islam, it is now absolutely a hero.”
Meanwhile, Mike Ferro, Reform England’s candidate for the Blendon and Penhill ward, appears to have posted a message on Facebook saying: “Am I the only one who thinks Uran Nabiev is being treated harshly by the law?”
Nabiev was sentenced to 14 years in prison for killing a man by driving into two people after one of them punched his car in a “grotesque” reaction to a broken mirror. One of the victims suffered a fatal head injury as he was dragged 30 feet along the pavement on Bickley Road, Erith.
He also appears to have commented on the Black Lives Matter protests on Facebook: “They are overjoyed – overjoyed – at the shocking manner of his death and the platform it has given them to spread their disgusting beliefs. The irony is that these groups themselves are the new totalitarians, the heirs of the Nazis…”
Elder Bexley and Sidcup Conservative MP Louie French described the comments from the three Reform candidates as “truly shocking”.
He added: “Reform has elected three candidates who are spreading hate and sharing wild conspiracy theories online. I call on Reformation UK to do the right thing and reject these candidates immediately.”
Meanwhile in Chingford, another Reform candidate, Matt Davis, pictured with Mr Farage, posted a slew of hate messages about Islam to a now-deleted account X.
It was revealed that in dozens of messages he referred to Islam as an “evil death cult” and “satanic” and made other unpublishable comments.
Conservative party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “Reform UK claimed that they professionalised and properly vetted their candidates. These comments show that this is simply not true.”
“Instead, we see a pattern of offensive statements, conspiracies and poor judgment. These are not the high standards they promised; quite the opposite.”
A Reform spokesman said: “We are investigating these posts.”
