Reform say their candidate vetting is better than in any other political party, which makes it all the more curious that they have selected Derek Bullock to stand for Bolton Council.
Bullock, who is contesting the ward of Hulton, was expelled twice from the Conservative Party for Islamophobia.
The first time was for sharing a post by Robert Spencer, an anti-Muslim activist. It was an article about the Muslim politician Sayeeda Warsi, to which he added the comment: “She’s been a cuckoo in the nest!”
The second time was for reacting to the Manchester Arena bombing with a grim recommendation: “Shoot the Pakis on the spot.” Bullock claimed that the post was fake, but he was nonetheless expelled in 2023 and stood as an independent the following year.
Reform leaders in the past have spoken of using “the most in-depth vetting procedure” in politics, using sophisticated AI techniques. But Bullock’s anti-Muslim statements were hardly difficult to find — they were documented on our website. In 2020, we wrote about his comments about Islam when he was in the Tories.
“The clock is ticking,” he wrote on Facebook while sharing an article reporting the rise in British Muslim children.
Bullock has repeatedly referred to Muslims as “Moslems”, an archaic spelling often used by Islamophobes. He has accused the Labour Party of using “the Moslems” to replace white working class voters.
He elsewhere spoke of wanting to encourage Muslims to join ISIS to “help re-balance England’s population & make-up”.
Bullock used to be a supporter of the English Democrats, a far-right party set up by Robin Tilbrook.
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