A newly elected Reform UK councillor has resigned just days after being elected, following allegations that he celebrated the rape of a Sikh woman on social media, described white people as the “master race” and referred to Muslims as “rats”.
Stuart Prior was elected to Essex County Council last Thursday, winning 2,404 votes – the highest total of any candidate in Rayleigh West ward – and also secured a seat on Rochford District Council. He was one of 53 Reform councillors elected to the authority, giving the party overall control of the council. A Reform UK spokesperson confirmed that Prior had resigned his positions for personal reasons and that his party membership had been revoked.
According to a dossier compiled by the anti-extremism group Hope not Hate, Prior is alleged to have made a series of inflammatory posts on X. In November 2025, he reportedly described white people as “the master race” and suggested they had “larger brains”. He is also accused of writing that “Muslims are dirt”, that “Muslims are awful, globally”, and declaring: “There cannot be a genocide against Muslims. It’s only ever self-defence against those rats.”
Further posts allegedly called for black people to be “segregated” and questioned why “black folk bitch about” the slave trade. On 27 October 2025, Prior is said to have responded to a post by the Labour MP Zarah Sultana about a Sikh woman being raped with the words “good.reap it”.
Confronted by the Mirror about the messages, Prior replied: “That’s not what I would have put down” and “this isn’t me”. The Guardian has attempted to contact Prior, who has previously denied making the comments or being racist.
Other Reform UK councillors under scrutiny
Prior is not the only newly elected Reform councillor facing allegations. Hope not Hate has highlighted the case of Derek Bullock, elected in Bolton, who was a Conservative candidate for the council in 2023. At that time, images emerged of a post sent after the 2017 Manchester Arena attack in which Bullock allegedly used a racial slur to call for people of Pakistani heritage to be shot. The Conservatives disowned him, and he won the seat as an independent before standing for Reform in 2026. Bullock has said the image is fake and reported the resurfaced material to the police. Hope not Hate also alleges Bullock spoke of wanting to encourage Muslims to join Islamic State to “help re-balance England’s population & make-up”. The Guardian has approached Bullock and Reform for comment.
In Sefton council’s Bootle West ward, Jay Leslie Cooper was elected for Reform. The Liverpool Echo reported that she allegedly wrote on Facebook last year: “I don’t agree with him [Adolf Hitler] murdering innocent people. But the Hallocaust [sic] is a hoax. There wasn’t [sic] even 6 million Jews in Europe at the time. Propaganda.” A Reform UK spokesperson said Cooper has resigned the party whip and had her membership revoked.
Nathaniel Menday, elected in Sheffield, is alleged by Hope not Hate to have described himself as an “ethno-nationalist”, encouraged the use of white supremacist symbols, and blamed Jews for antisemitism because they “overwhelmingly favour open borders”. In January 2024, he reportedly shared a picture of Berlin’s Nazi-era Olympiastadion and wrote: “Whichever group of people built this must have been real visionaries!” The stadium was co-designed by Albert Speer, the munitions minister convicted at Nuremberg of crimes against humanity. The Guardian has approached Menday and Reform for comment.
Ben Rowe, elected for Reform on Plymouth City Council, is alleged to have urged protesters throwing bricks at police defending a mosque to “get rid of that filthy building” during the 2024 Southport riots. According to Hope not Hate, he also commented beneath a YouTube video in February, accusing “the Jews” of “creating division by forcing other races on our societies” and describing immigrants to the UK as “breeding like rats”. Rowe has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation. The Guardian has approached him for comment.
Hope not Hate has identified numerous other Reform candidates who have allegedly shared far-right content, including retweets from Britain First and calls for mass deportations. Among those named are Paul Harrison in Leicestershire, Russell Cherry in Thurrock, Ivan Dabbs in West Northamptonshire, and Ricky Hodges in Hastings, as well as individuals alleged to have used language equating Islam to “cancer” and calling for the Prime Minister to be shot. Reform UK recently announced it was introducing a “common sense” vetting system, which critics argue weakens existing checks. The party has faced repeated accusations of a systemic failure in candidate vetting.
Green Party councillors also facing allegations
The controversy has unfolded alongside separate criticism of several newly elected Green representatives over alleged antisemitic comments. Saiqa Ali, a councillor in Lambeth council’s Streatham St Leonard’s ward, was arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred online. Mohammed Suleman, elected in Arthur’s Hill ward in Newcastle, was suspended over media reports that he allegedly shared antisemitic content on social media. Suleman said his suspension – which he is appealing – was not about sharing antisemitic content but could not comment further. Mark Adderley, elected in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood ward in Croydon, has also been suspended over reports he allegedly shared antisemitic content. He said in a statement: “My suspension is a no-fault suspension and is an internal matter within the Green party that will soon be resolved. I have not been found guilty of antisemitism.” A Green party spokesperson said all three candidates were suspended at the time of the election and will sit as independents, not as Green Party councillors.
Dr Wajid Akhtar, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, warned that such statements would normally disqualify someone from even running a school bake sale. “We call on such candidates to be disqualified, but more importantly, urgent accountability for the rhetoric and policies about Muslims and immigrants in our political parties and public discourse,” he said. The MCB has also noted the scale of Reform UK’s electoral success alongside what it describes as the increasing normalisation of racist and dehumanising language about Muslims, Jews and immigrants in British politics.
