📢 Welcome to the third edition of Reform Watch

🚨 Meet Reform’s new Hitler-posting, Muslim-hating councillors

“I’ve seen the party grow, I’ve seen the calibre of people improve, we’ve professionalised the way we operate,” Nigel Farage said last week as Reform UK’s election results came in. Was he right?

Our analysis of Reform’s new councillors reveals the opposite. While the party has grown, the calibre of people and their professionalism remains embarrassingly low. We found councillors who have made extreme and conspiratorial statements about women, Muslims and Jews. There are other elected officials who have reposted Britain First, the white nationalist party, plus Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate.

Steve Biggs is now Reform’s councillor for Pelton in County Durham. He previously called for all Muslims to be attacked with a nuclear bomb, saying: “Islam has no place on this earth.” Last month, he also shared a graphic entitled “How Islam is Colonising non-Muslim Countries”. Biggs is listed as the branch officer for Reform’s North Durham operation.

Mark Broadhurst is now one of Reform’s councillors in Doncaster (Hatfield ward). He has posted a meme of Adolf Hitler captioned “For f**k sake If I had chosen muslims I would have been a f**king legend [sic].” He also posted the image below entitled “How to Make a Muslim” with the words “Remove Brain” and “Insert Shit”. HOPE not hate identified seven Reform councillors in Doncaster alone who have made racist, antisemitic or Islamophobic comments, in addition to supporting Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate.

Mark Wade is now Reform’s councillor in Lancashire (Chorley Rural West). In his book, The Rantings of a Normal Man, he said he would “never employ a woman who might have children as the possible maternity bill is too expensive”. He also wrote that “women are affected by hormonal change, this can and does lead to change in behaviour and judgement”. He further asked to use the n-word, writing: “How come a Black bunch of rappers can call themselves N*ggers, but I can’t?”

If you have a story about a Reform UK councillor, feel free to email us at [email protected]