New Reform UK youth wing leader attended Tommy Robinson rally

Earlier this week, 21-year-old Jack Eccles announced that he has been chosen as president of Reform UK’s new youth wing. Eccles wrote that the new group, called Students for Reform, will “combat woke leftist ideologies” and “re-define student Politics”. 

Eccles’ appointment quickly raised eyebrows. On Tuesday, the Telegraph pointed out that the new youth wing president has repeatedly claimed that the King is “anti-British”.

On X (formerly Twitter), Eccles said, “The King is anti-British and prioritises non-British cultures”, and suggested that he didn’t have “any relevance”. He has a similar view of the police, writing on 15 September that they “are now anti-British” as well. 

It is not only Eccles’ views on the monarch and police force which make him an interesting choice by Reform, however.

On 13 September, Eccles promoted and attended the ‘Unite The Kingdom’ rally, organised by the anti-Muslim extremist and serial criminal Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson), in London. 

On TikTok, Eccles posted videos from the far-right protest under the headings: “An Army of Brits Have taken to the Streets of London”; “An Evil Looking Keir Starmer Doll is being flown Around London”; “British people are RISING UP” and “An ARMY of Brits On the March”. 

In two of the videos uploaded by Eccles – who had complained in a TikTok post two days earlier that “left wing rhetoric has gone too far, it’s got too extreme and too aggressive” – the crowd around him can be heard chanting, “Keir Starmer’s a wanker.”

Enthused by the rally, Eccles took to X on 14 September to write, “so nice to see so many British flags”, in response to a post by Lennon displaying pictures from the protest and declaring: “It was a turning point, a cultural movement has begun, and we will only grow stronger.”

Is Reform comfortable with senior members attending and promoting Tommy Robinson rallies or will it drop Eccles? Only time will tell…