Shadow cabinet minister Sir James Cleverly has distanced himself from a frontbench colleague's social media post that appeared to compare Reform UK to the Nazis. The controversy erupted after Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake shared a link to the Wikipedia entry for the Nazi Golden Party Badge in response to a Reform logo post from Nigel Farage.
Sir James told GB News that Mr Hollinrake had been 'trying to make a point' but added: 'That's not necessarily the way I would have made it.' He argued the point was to highlight the recent jailing of former Reform Wales leader Nathan Gill for corruption linked to Russian propaganda, but conceded that criticism of Reform voters was not appropriate.
The row has exposed a split within the Conservative Party. Leader Kemi Badenoch defended Mr Hollinrake's post as a 'joke', while former home secretary Suella Braverman called it 'wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive'. Reform policy chief Zia Yusuf warned the comment would be used against the Tories in leaflets and campaign vans.
Mr Gill was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison last week after being paid £40,000 to make pro-Russian statements while an MEP. Ms Badenoch pointed to this as a 'much bigger problem' for Reform, brushing off the Nazi comparison as online banter.
