Rupert Matthews allegedly asked a police officer to help him organise a photo in the style of Vladimir Putin's bizarre topless photo with a horse
Reform’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) for Leicestershire and Rutland is facing a complaint for asking a police officer to help him organise a ‘Putin-style’ horse photo.
According to a BBC report, Reform PCC Rupert Matthews reportedly sent an “unsolicited email” to a police officer asking her to help him arrange a photo in the style of Vladimir Putin’s famous topless photoshoot.
A meeting at Leicestershire County Council today will decide how the complaint should be resolved.
The report leaked to the BBC stated that Matthews “sent an unsolicited email to a police officer within Leicestershire Police, asking her to organise for him to have a photo taken with a horse for his next election leaflet, referencing a photograph of Russian president Vladimir Putin posing shirtless on horseback”.
Matthews’ message was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in September 2025. No evidence of a criminal offence was found.
The IOPC said the complaint related to “allegations of intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence and misconduct in public office”.
“The offences were alleged to have happened when a request was made to a serving police officer to participate in promotional election material,” a spokesperson said.
Matthews was elected as a PCC in 2021 and re-elected in 2024, before defecting from the Conservatives to Reform UK in 2025.
A spokesperson for Matthews’ office said he had met the officer “several times for public engagement purposes”.
However, the spokesperson said Matthews is “extremely frightened of horses and this has been mentioned, with good humour, every time a horse or pony has been involved in the event. He would never seek to work with them out of choice”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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