Reform Watch 36: Yet another scandal in Kirklees

Since Reform UK won a plurality on Kirklees Council in the May local elections, the party’s councillors have kept coming under the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

First, it was revealed that Stephan Dransfield had described a video of an Asian man being punched aggressively in the face as “very satisfying” and then it emerged that Tracy Clayton had promoted a slew of hateful anti-Muslim posts on X (formerly Twitter).

After that, we found out that Eric Butterworth had reposted an image calling for England to be made “ISLAM-FREE” and responded to a video showing a black man covered in milk by commenting: “I guess he’s just trying to get white”. In August, moreover, the party had to suspend Kirklees councillor David Rowan, after we revealed that he had made a homophobic comment on social media and called for former House of Commons Speaker John Bercow to be hanged. 

And if four wasn’t enough, we have now found a fifth Reform Kirklees councillor with a track record of promoting far-right views on social media. 

Gill Floyd – who represents Almondbury ward on the Council – has not only shared numerous posts by the anti-Muslim extremist Tommy Robinson, but also wished him “good luck” ahead of a court case last October and reposted someone asking how “they have got away with smearing” Robinson for so long.

Gill Floyd

On top of that, Floyd has referred to Enoch Powell – the late politician best known for his inflammatory 1968 “Rivers of Blood” speech – as “wise”, admitted to having worn a racist golliwog badge at work (although insisted there was “no offence meant and none taken back then”), and reposted far-right activist Laurence Fox commenting: “Islam has no place in the west. It doesn’t want to integrate. It wants to dominate. Leave. Go home.” Grim. 

Floyd was offered the opportunity to comment, but did not respond.

And in other news… 

💨 Fart attack 

Back in April, we reported on Andy Mahon, a Reform candidate in Blackburn who also happened to be a fan of the notorious fascist leader Oswald Mosley (having described him as “right 100%”, adding that “we need an educational correction” and claiming “multiculturism [sic] has failed”). Unfortunately, Mahon was nevertheless elected the following month; so, how’s he been getting on? 

In a council meeting last week, Mahon was accused of a heinous act. “I’ll tell you what I really take issue with: somebody lifting their arse cheeks higher than my mic in my direction, and blowing their arse out like we’re at school,” said independent councillor Tasleem Fazal, adding: “I was really worried about shrapnel if he gets it wrong.”

While he initially declined to comment on the matter, Mahon has now explained that he is currently taking a medicine, one of the side effects of which is “flatulence, which I cannot always control”. The Reform councillor has yet to provide an explanation for why he saw fit to praise Oswald Mosley. 

🇨🇳 Made in China 

What Reform wants, the party’s business spokesperson Richard Tice told a party rally on 1 October, is “free, fair and patriotic trade”. After pronouncing that “we need to buy British”, Tice lamented how some Mayors think “it’s a good idea to buy Chinese buses,” declaring: “What’s wrong with brilliant British-made buses for heaven’s sake.”

Tice probably ought to have a word with his own party’s merchandise team. At the Reform conference last month, members could purchase caps, water bottles and pendants manufactured in… China! 

🗳️ To byelection, or not to byelection, that is the question 

Last month Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, elected under Reform’s banner to the Senedd in May, defected to Plaid Cymru, explaining that her former party is “far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions”. 

Outraged by this news, Michael “Russia is not my enemy” Hadwen – Reform’s former campaigns chief who now serves as the party’s leader of Suffolk County Council – huffed that “the voters elected a Reform MS”, explaining: “If she no longer wants to represent the party and platform she was elected on, she should resign and give those voters the opportunity to choose again. Sadly, I don’t expect her to do the right thing.” Reform’s director of external affairs, Matt MacKinnon, concurred, telling his social media followers: “She should resign.”

But Cooper-Lesadd isn’t the only politician to have changed parties without letting the voters have a say. Others include… Lee Anderson, Danny Kruger, Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman and Andrew Rosindell – who all defected from the Tories to Reform without calling a parliamentary by-election.