Reform UK has suspended former Worcestershire County Council leader Jo Monk in the latest of a series of setbacks for the party. The suspension was imposed for "refusing to accept the democratic decision of the Reform UK group" after fellow councillors removed her as group leader last month, replacing her with former Conservative MP Alan Amos.
Party Turmoil Deepens
The move comes amid ongoing doubts about the future of several Reform councillors investigated by the Mirror. Recently, Stuart Prior was expelled from the party following an investigation into online posts by the anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate. Prior had been elected to Essex County Council, giving Nigel Farage's party a majority, and also won a seat on Rochford District Council. He has since resigned from both positions.
Monk Family Suspended
Jo Monk's son and fellow councillor, Ashley Monk, has also been suspended for reportedly bringing the party into disrepute. Ms Monk told the BBC she would not comment until Thursday's council meeting. After losing a vote among party councillors in April, her successor acknowledged her hard work but noted they had "inherited a mess from the Conservatives." A row erupted post-election, with Ashley Monk criticising the decision and the new leader on social media.
Ms Monk's tenure as council leader was marked by controversy: council tax rose by 9%, and the authority required £59.9 million in emergency government support to avoid effective bankruptcy. Despite being removed as group leader, she remains formally the leader of the county council itself.
Wider Candidate Concerns
Doubts persist about several Reform councillors investigated by the Mirror prior to local elections. Daniel Devaney topped the poll in his Bradford ward despite apologising for a post in which he said he would "blast [Muslims] off the face of the earth," describing them as 'pure scum'. Ousted Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe called the comments "absolutely abhorrent" and urged all major parties to condemn them. "People like that should not be running a city like Bradford where we get on," she said. Devaney apologised for his tweets when confronted by the Mirror.
Stuart Prior stood for Reform UK despite calls to drop him as a candidate. Hope Not Hate claimed Prior deleted an X account that had tweeted "Muslims are dirt" and "Muslims are awful, globally." He was accused of posting that genocide could not be committed against them. Prior denied the tweets, saying, "That's not what I would have put down." He won the Essex County Council division of Rayleigh West with a majority of 796 votes, taking the seat from the Liberal Democrats, and also won Sweyne Park and the Grange on Rochford. Farage's party won all 13 seats on the district council, leaving no party with overall control. By-elections are likely for both seats.
Vetting Questions
Last month, Farage was asked about candidate vetting in the county. "I know that our candidates will be held to a higher standard than any of the other parties," he said. "We have done a good, thorough professional job." Joe Mulhall, research director at Hope Not Hate, accused Reform of "a systematic failure in the party's vetting." When confronted with evidence at his home, Prior denied being a racist. On a tweet about the "master race," he claimed, "I don't recall that at all, blimey." Regarding a comment about Black people's brains, he said, "Goodness me, that is not me, 100% not." In November, he suggested white people had larger brains than Black people. Responding to a user sharing pictures of white and Black athletes, Prior wrote: "Larger brains. Google which race has the smallest brain.... Then, once you have that answer, Google whether brain size dictates intelligence in humans."
The same month, Prior declared: "There cannot be a genocide against Muslims. It's only ever self-defence against those rats." Reacting to a video of a Black man on a Tube train, he used a racial slur. In response to a tweet about the Huntingdon knife attack, Prior wrote: "If this was caused by another third world invader, then this country needs a purge." When read a tweet referring to immigrants as a cancer, Prior said: "This looks likely something that's been kind of created against me."
