Introducing the Putin-loving Reform candidate in Durham who wants to ‘nuke’ all Muslims

Gregory Davis and Harry Shukman

At a speech last week in County Durham, Nigel Farage told his audience that Reform UK was now a professional, non-racist organisation. He condemned union members who, he said, were “telling kids that Reform is a racist party, Reform is a bad party”.

Today a HOPE not hate investigation into Reform’s Durham candidates asks the question: does Farage have a handle on the racism within his own party?

We reveal the shocking behaviour of four individuals contesting the Co. Durham elections on May 1st. There are:

Steven Biggs (Pelton)

Biggs describes himself as the branch officer for Reform’s North Durham operation. He previously called for all Muslims to be attacked with a nuclear bomb, saying: “Islam has no place on this earth.” The chairman of Reform, Zia Yusuf, is Muslim. A fan of Britain First, the anti-Islam political party, Biggs has repeatedly reposted their links on his Facebook account. He described Vladimir Putin as someone he admires, and once said “I’m with Assad / Putin.” Last month, Biggs shared a graphic entitled “How Islam is Colonising non-Muslim Countries”.

Clive Taylor-Sholl (Aycliffe North and Middridge)

Taylor-Sholl has described Islam as an “invasion” that “must be stopped”. He has written: “This is NOT racist…. this is the INCOMPATIBILITY of Islam in the UK, and it does not work.” He has also shared the conspiracy theory that 15-minute cities — the concept that urban planning should make public services and shops more accessible — are evil. “This must not happen we must all not comply with this Nazi regime of control,” he wrote.

Lyndsey Fox (Bishop Auckland)

Nigel Farage has pledged to open a “British equivalent of Doge” in every council to slash waste. Perhaps he could start with Lyndsey Fox, one of Reform’s candidates in Bishop Auckland. Due to her non-attendance as Tory a councillor at Spennymoor Town Council, Fox’s role was vacated and reopened for new nominations.

Darren Grimes (Annfield Plain and Tanfield)

Grimes is a former GB News presenter. He no longer works at the channel. In 2023, Byline Times accused him of persistent sexual harassment of a junior male colleague. The article wrote:

Grimes was said to have swarmed the man with ‘incessant’ calls – sometimes dozens in a single day – and messages in which he called him ‘angel’ and made unwelcome invitations to his hotel room.

Grimes, we understand, has not addressed the allegations.

Last year, he was accused of Islamophobia for sharing AI-generated images of Keir Starmer dressed in a burka.

“Anybody who has a racist point of view, I don’t want to know them,” Farage once said. Is he so sure?