Katie Hopkins is a provocative far-right former columnist and current social media figure. First coming to attention as a particularly unpleasant contestant on BBC series The Apprentice, Hopkins launched a career as a talking head on discussion shows, frequently called upon to provide offensive commentary on issues around race, class, weight and many other topics.

Her career in mainstream media, including stints as a host on LBC and columnist for The Sun and Daily Mail, slowly ground to a halt after her increasingly extreme statements went beyond what her respective employers could tolerate, including a 2015 column for The Sun in which she referred to migrants as “cockroaches” and “feral humans”, and a tweet calling for a “final solution” following the Manchester bombing in 2017.

Like many far-right influencers, Katie Hopkins expanded influence into new audiences during the pandemic by consistently downplaying the severity of the virus and opposing lockdowns and the vaccine.

She also played a minor role in the forthcoming London mayoral election in September, when HOPE not hate revealed that the Conservative candidate for Mayor, Susan Hall, had retweeted a post from Hopkins which referred to Sadiq Khan as the “nipple-height Mayor of Londonistan”, among other bigoted posts.

Hopkins was among the horde of far-right influencers to be given their Twitter accounts back in 2023 following Elon Musk’s general amnesty for suspended accounts. She has not been able to command the same level of attention as before her suspension, however, despite her one million followers and continued efforts to start arguments with other high-profile accounts.

Following the imprisonment of former collaborator Alex Belfield on stalking charges, Hopkins has continued to perform a series of live solo shows with him in small theatres around the country, with 24 dates announced so far.