Five members of Goodwin’s campaign team have shared racist content or expressed support for the far-right online
Labour has said Reform’s Gorton and Denton by-election candidate Matt Goodwin must condemn “racist content” shared by members of his campaign team.
An investigation by The Manchester Mill, which referenced research by anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate, has found that five separate members of Goodwin’s campaign team had shared racist content online or expressed support for far-right groups.
Goodwin’s interim campaign manager, Adam Mitula, claimed online that “60-70%” of transgender people are paedophiles. He also said he would “never touch a Jewish woman” and used the n-word.
Mitula also shared social media posts claiming there are “Muslim no go ghettos in the UK”. In another post, he voiced support for influencer Andrew Tate despite him being actively investigated on suspicion of human trafficking and rape.
Kelly Cooling, who has been out on the campaign trail with Goodwin in recent days, endorsed Britain First as recently as last summer.
This comes despite Nigel Farage repeatedly having distanced his political outfits from explicitly far-right parties. Farage has been publicly critical of Tommy Robinson on many occasions, and as UKIP leader he banned ex-British National Party members from running for his party.
Alanna Vine, who was expelled from the Tories in 2022 and has been out campaigning with Goodwin, wrote on social media: “How many mosques have secret arsenals? Just waiting for when our troops are elsewhere in the world”.
In a letter to Goodwin, Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, said that the Reform candidate may not have been aware of the comments “when they offered to help your campaign, but you are aware of it now”.
Powell called on Goodwin to “ensure that they are not part of your campaign in the future, make clear that you disagree with their vile views, and state clearly that racism and conspiracism like this is not welcome in Reform and not compatible with campaigning for you.”
“If you do not now distance yourself from the views of these supporters and take action to remove them from your campaign, people will conclude that you and Reform UK are happy to be associated with them,” the letter added.
Powell also pointed out that Goodwin’s candidacy has been backed by far-right figure Tommy Robinson, “who you have refused to condemn despite being given the opportunity to do so”.
As a result, Powell said “it is not surprising that people with disgusting racist views think you represent them”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn't have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.