UPDATE: The Guardian have revealed Reform UK have suspended John Allen after our investigation revealed his online comments about wanting to kill Keir Starmer. More on the story below.
In the frame this week is John Allen, councillor for Hirst division on Northumberland County Council. Elected in May, the former UKIP candidate Allen serves as the Shadow Housing & Planning member for the Reform group there, which was narrowly beaten by the Conservatives as the largest party.
Allen is also, unfortunately, a particularly unpleasant bigot who enjoys cracking racist jokes and spewing his toxic politics into the comment sections under YouTube videos. In just the past fortnight he claimed he would like to shoot and/or hang Keir Starmer from a lamppost if given the opportunity, and has made frequent racist comments over the past five years.
When footage went viral of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars in 2022, Allen suggested that any argument between black men was likely to be about the price of drugs — a joke he found so funny that he posted it under two separate videos:
And while Allen is generally enthusiastic about Reform UK, he takes exception to some of its leaders. Greeting the news that Zia Yusuf had been made party chair, Allen warned that a Muslim should not fill the role, yet when Dr David Bull took over as chair from Yusuf, Allen wrote that neither man “represent his view on life”, seemingly due to Bull’s sexual orientation:
He had a similar objection to Sunak’s reign as Prime Minister, repeatedly insisting that a Hindu could not “relate” to the British people, and condemned LGBT Brits as “perverts”:
Reform promptly suspended Cllr Paul Bean of Durham last month, following our expose of his criticisms of Farage and the party via YouTube comments. Will they be so swift to defend Zia Yusuf and David Bull from a bigoted councillor, or sweep this one under the rug?
Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version. Harry Shukman Reform UK is staffed by oddballs and enigmas, but none odder…
