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A series of Facebook groups set up and administered by Reform UK officials are full of racist and Islamophobic posts and conspiracy theories, which have been left entirely unchallenged by the party, Byline Times can reveal.
One such group for the party’s Kent supporters is listed as being “promoted by Carol Comey for and on behalf of Reform UK”. Comey is the Kent County Organiser for Reform.
Posts in this group included the claim that it is “hardwired into [Muslims’] belief system to kill non-believers”, that Israel is made up of “people who despise us and haven’t done a single thing for us apart from take our money and dilute our country with foreign invaders”, an iteration of the extreme right ideology of Great Replacement Theory which blames Jews for undermining the white race through migration.
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The same user posted that “Hitler was a good actor and played his part” and a post appearing to claim that Muslims “will face public lynching one day once everyone gets off the news and starts reading more books”.
In the same group Byline Times also found posts claiming that “Keir Starmer has no control” over “subhuman Muslim child rapists” and the “rapid Islamisation of Britain”, and that Keir Starmer does “have control over free speech and imprisoning offenders. Tommy Robinson is one of many examples”.
Although Farage has ruled out any alliance between Reform UK and Tommy Robinson stating in January “I never wanted Tommy Robinson to join UKIP. I don’t want him to join Reform UK”, pro-Robinson sentiment is highly prevalent among Reform UK’s online supporters.
Other posts in the group included claims that the pandemic and Southport murders were parts of a coordinated plot to cover up problems in the UK.
Reform UK Gloucestershire is another public Facebook group, which was established by Lee Bunker, Reform UK’s Regional Coordinator for the South West. The group carries the digital imprint “promoted by Lee Bunker on behalf of Reform UK 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX” the electoral commission confirmed to Byline Times that it appears to be in line with Electoral law as it is a public group and the presence of the party’s address suggests that it is “party material”.
The group contains a post shared from the page of the far-right Traditional Britain Group, of the Dutch influencer Eva Vlaardingerbroek promoting the Great Replacement Theory. Vlaardingerbroek once claimed in an interview with Winston Marshall that she “would love to be the new Nigel Farage” and take the Netherlands out of the EU.
Also shared in the Reform UK Gloucestershire group was a video claiming that wherever they go Muslims “are the problem” as well as conspiracy theories claiming that fluoride in water is poisonous and that “climate change is a scam”.
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Byline Times identified more than two dozen Reform UK council candidates present in groups in which racist material or conspiracy theories were shared. In the Reform UK Cornwall group several council candidates act as admins for the group.
This did not stop the sharing of racist material. Candidate for Probus and St Erme in Cornwall, Jacqueline Francesca Wall who is one of the groups admins can be seen in the group replying to posts claiming that Britain is becoming an Islamic Caliphate and the statement “what bothers me more than anything is that a Muslim is leading the Reform Party” without challenging the substance of the claims. The posts remain up in the group.
Joe Mulhall of Hope Not Hate said “The fact that Reform UK candidates are in groups with extreme racist and conspiratorial content like this comes as no surprise. But that doesn’t make it excusable. Despite what Farage and Reform have claimed about professionalisation and vetting a troubling number of their candidates have been exposed for a range of extreme and unacceptable behaviour. This is another test for Reform UK to see if they really do take these issues seriously.”
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Hope Not Hate has highlighted several Reform UK council candidates who have directly shared far-right material. This included Mark Broadhurst the candidate for Hatfield who shared a Hitler meme stating “fucks sake I’d have been a legend if I’d chosen Muslims” as well as Steve Plater, the candidate for Adwick-Le-Street and Carcroft who shared racist articles from the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative.
Byline Times has previously reported on photos of Nigel Farage with various Far-Right activists earlier this year.
Byline Times approached Reform UK, Reform UK Kent, Reform UK Gloucester and Reform UK Cornwall for comment. We did not receive any response but were quickly blocked from further accessing these groups.