Reform UK Faces Scrutiny Over Member Conduct Allegations

Feeney, a Reform councillor, resigned from both Solihull Council and Birmingham City Council. This followed the emergence of footage from an undercover journalist, capturing him calling Asian homeowners "parasites" and asserting the non-white population in the UK should not exceed one percent. The Ministry of Justice also suspended Feeney from his position with the prison service.

Feeney claims these comments do not reflect his true beliefs or opinions, particularly regarding the communities mentioned. Solihull Borough Council stated the language used is unacceptable and does not represent the council's values.

Separately, another Reform councillor, Chris Whelan, was recorded making a misogynistic comment about a female Reform candidate. Whelan also resigned from Reform, citing personal and health reasons.

Meanwhile, Hull and East Yorkshire mayor Luke Campbell, 39, is under police investigation. The probe concerns allegations he showed naked pictures of himself to a female member of staff in a central Hull office in May, an incident reportedly witnessed by another colleague.

The woman at the center of the claims reportedly had a permanent job offer withdrawn three weeks later. Mr. Campbell, a gold medalist in boxing at the London 2012 Olympic Games and an MBE recipient, reportedly demanded five members of staff resign in August last year. An independent remuneration panel clarified Mr. Campbell could only claim for standard class train travel.

A Reform spokesperson stated, "Luke firmly denies the allegations. They come from a disgruntled employee attempting to leverage a settlement in a meritless workplace dispute." A HEYCA spokesperson added, "As with all public authorities, the combined authority has a standards process that can be engaged to deal with complaints about members and a complaints procedure that can be used to deal with complaints about officers. The standards process and the complaints procedure must be carried out in a fair and independent manner."

Reform UK confirmed investigations have commenced for members, activists, and councillors who have behaved inappropriately, with some facing suspensions. "Where members, activists and councillors have clearly behaved inappropriately, investigations have commenced. In some cases, there have been suspensions and due process must be followed," Reform UK stated.

The party claims not all individuals covertly recorded by ITV are members of Reform UK. Reform UK also claims a handful of individuals who do not share their values sometimes make it through vetting, a challenge they say is common to all organizations. The party further claims the investigation came "at a time when Nigel Farage and other members of Reform are being targeted by individuals who wished them harm and caused a security issue which was documented during the course of the undercover investigation", but was not included in the report.