Far-Right Racism,Conspiracy Theorists and Andrew Tate Fans in Lax Leicestershire Branch

Reform UK’s local election campaign in Leicestershire got off to a bad start.

Earlier this month, the X account @reformexposed unearthed an old Facebook post by Elliott Allman, Reform Deputy Chairman for North West Leicestershire and candidate for Coalville North in which he complained about Golf owners, using the phrase:“It’s always some little black cunt driving.”.

Replying to the news Allman responded, “What it shows is a fantastic maturing and development stage.  I’m glad you’ve highlighted this to me.  It reminds me of how far I’ve come.  Thank you so much.” While the post was indeed many years ago, he was 25 at the time.

To make things worse, @reformexposed then published screenshots from the local branch’s WhatsApp group where Allman’s colleague responded, “Have you a black friend you can have your picture taken with? I always have a black mate to pull out my back pocket.”

The incident led to Leicestershire Conservatives submitting a formal complaint to Reform UK which resulted in no action.

The local party’s tolerance towards racist behaviour prompted us to look into some of Reform’s other candidates in Leicestershire. It wasn’t long before we came across more.

Joseph Boam, Whitwick Division

Boam is a rising star in Reform. Despite being in his twenties, he’s already Chairman of the North West Leicestershire branch. His social media account is full of pictures of him enthusiastically campaigning across the country. 

However, his now deleted X account reveals a different side. Using the name Lord Joseph Boam he regularly tweeted and retweeted Andrew Tate, the infamous misogynist charged with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women. He retweeted messages like “Resist the Slave Mind” and tweeted, “Hello Mr Tate” with an emoji of a goat (meaning “Greatest Of All Time”). 

After HOPE not hate successfully campaigned for Tate to be removed from numerous social media platforms, Boam retweeted another account saying: “Andrew Tate has been banned from Instagram and Facebook. Free speech is dead. The world is dead.”

During the last men’s football World Cup he also wrote: “Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran are all out. The way things are going England will be the only Muslim country left in the World Cup.”

Paul Harrison, Coalville South

It seems that Joseph Boam isn’t the only Reform candidate in Leicestershire with a dodgy social media account. 

Weirdly, Harrison has two accounts on X, both of which push similarly far-right content. 

On one, in response to a tweet asking, “Do you want England to get back to traditional values and demolish all mosques in the UK,” he responded, “YES. The mosques and our way of life are incompatible. IMHO.” 

Similarly, in response to Ashlea Simon from Britain First asking, “I support deporting millions upon millions. Do you?” he responded, “YES and let me thing again … YES YES.”

On his other account, Harrison has retweeted a vast array of far right extremists from his campaign account, including: 

– Alan Leggett (AKA Active Patriot)

– A UKIP video posted by Tommy Robinson’s ally Don Keith

– A video by the Knights Templar International set up by infamous BNP activist Jim Dowson 

– A link to the instagram of the Dutch far-right activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek 

– Content supporting the French far-right politician Marine Le Pen

– The anti-Muslim account Radio Genoa

– James Goddard, the former regional organiser of the neo-Nazi organisation Patriotic Alternative

And, like Boam, Harrison also seems to appreciate Andrew Tate, having posted content from The Tate University Instagram account and retweeted a post by Andrew’s brother Tristan. 

To retweet one far-right account could be excused as a mistake but with Harrison there is a clear pattern. 

Ian Edward Hayes, Syston Ridgeway

Formerly a UKIP candidate in 2017 and 2019, Ian Hayes is now standing for Reform in Syston Ridgeway. A quick look at his Facebook account reveals a range of far-right, anti-Muslim and conspiracy theory content.

Hayes appears to have a special interest in Muslims, endlessly resharing content about the supposed dangers of Muslim immigration.

In the past he has shared a video by the anti-Muslim party Britain First and pro-Tommy Robinson content.

Despite being based in Leicestershire he endlessly shares content attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan, going as far as calling him a “traitor”.

He has also shared a graphic of Sammy Woodhouse, a close associate of Tommy Robinson and former employee of his far-right media outlet Urban Scoop and a video by another close Robinson ally, Mahyar Tousi.

Hayes is also quick to brand those he disagrees with as “traitors,” regularly throwing the accusation at Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan. He has shared content by the disgraced MMA fighter Conor McGregor reading: “Mass invasion of a country is an act of war. A government failing to protect a country is an act of treason.”

His Facebook page is also awash with a range of conspiracy theories. He has shared a conspiratorial graphic depicting George Soros and Jacob Rothschild — the Jewish financiers — plus Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab as well as an article by the conspiracy theory newspaper The Light, which has a history of publishing Holocaust denial.

Hayese has shared vaccine conspiracy theory content including one graphic that claims Bill Gates is using jabs to reduce population sizes.

Hayes is also a staunch climate change denier having shared a wide range of conspiratorial content in recent months including one video titled, “Climate Change … The biggest hoax ever known to man ..” and posted: “The planet does not have a CO2 problem. The planet has a psychopathic genocidal oligarchy problem.”

There’s little doubt that Hayes isn’t fit to represent Leicestershire. Yet Reform’s track record of sticking by unsuitable candidates suggest they are unlikely to take action this time either. Let’s see!