Nigel Farage is under fire once again as two more Reform UK local election candidates have been exposed for sharing racist and anti-Muslim posts on social media. The revelations have intensified calls for Farage to remove the candidates ahead of the council elections scheduled for May 7.
The Labour Party has sharply criticised Reform UK’s candidate vetting process, describing it as “clearly not fit for purpose.”
Racist Slurs and Anti-Islam Rants Surface
Alan Stay, standing for Reform UK on the Isle of Wight, was found to have shared Facebook posts containing explicit racial slurs. Stay defended his use of the offensive language, claiming the terms were “harmless.” He repeatedly used the slur in comments defending a DJ who was dismissed for playing a racist record. Images of the posts show Stay dismissing the harmful nature of the words.
Meanwhile, Caroline Panetta, Reform UK’s candidate in Bexley, outer London, retweeted anti-Islam content that criticised Mayor Sadiq Khan for allegedly turning London into “Londonstan,” a place where women would be unsafe. Panetta herself posted that Islam is “the religion of rape, incest and paedophilia.” Additionally, she shared conspiracy theories about the George Floyd case, falsely labelling the victim a criminal and describing the police killing as a miscarriage of justice.
Farage’s Vetting Under Scrutiny
These incidents come amid a series of scandals involving Reform UK candidates ahead of the May 7 polls, including hopefuls for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. This is despite Farage’s repeated assertions that the party’s vetting procedures had been “substantially tightened.”
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said, “What will it take for Nigel Farage to finally act? Farage must condemn these vile remarks, sack them as Reform candidates and kick them out of his party without delay.”
Systemic Screening Failures Threaten Reform's Election Hopes
The controversy highlights a broader issue with Reform UK’s candidate screening process. Social media histories have proven to be a complex area to navigate, but the number of scandals involving Reform candidates suggests systemic failures rather than isolated incidents. With ballots already printed, Farage faces the real risk of having candidates whose views conflict with the party’s official stance — a significant challenge for Reform just weeks before the elections.
Originally published by UKNIP.
