Disgraced Reform councillors face pressure within councils to resign over racist and sexist comments

Ex-Reform UK councillors who have been exposed for making extreme racist, Islamophobic and sexist remarks are facing calls from other councillors to resign their council seats.

In Solihull, the Greens and Lib Dems are calling on former Reform councillors Alan Feeney and Jamie Campbell to give up their council seats.

This comes after Solihull councillors Feeney, Campbell and Chris Whelan resigned from the party yesterday following revelations about their offensive comments.

Whelan has now also resigned as a councillor, however, Campbell remains Reform’s deputy group leader on Solihull council.

Leader of the Lib Dem Group, Ade Adeyemo said that the three councillors should “do the honourable thing and resign completely from the council”. 

Adeyemo said he was “dismayed but not surprised” at Solihull Reform’s response to the revelations, adding “Their statement on Wednesday that Alan Feeney and Chris Whelan’s resignations from the Solihull Reform Group were ‘mutually agreed on personal grounds – we thank them for their contributions’, beggars belief.  They should have been summarily sacked.”

He said “It is also deeply troubling that one of those named remains as Deputy Leader of their council group.  Reform’s Group Leader in Solihull must explain why he still holds that position.”

In a statement issued yesterday, the Green Party group leader on Solihull Borough Council, Max McLoughlin and deputy leader Shahin Ashraf, wrote: “Leaving a political party is not the same as being accountable to the residents you were elected to serve. We call on all three councillors to resign, with immediate effect.”

Opposition councillors in Solihull are going to put forward a motion at an extraordinary meeting on Monday calling on Feeney to be removed from his position as deputy mayor and for Campbell to be removed from his vice chair of resources role.

Feeney, who is Solihull’s deputy mayor, was recorded describing the area as “infested” with Asian families, calling them “absolute parasites”, and saying Muslims should be “dragged” from their homes and deported to Pakistan. 

Campbell was recorded talking about burying “pork chops” to stop a mosque being built in Castle Bromwich, which the Greens say there has never been any proposal for. 

Speaking about a female Reform candidate, Whelan said: “If she was my daughter it would still be bath night on a Thursday… I’ll wash you properly this time.”

Another Solihull Reform councillor, Phil Tierney, was under investigation by Reform in May over a series of anti-Islam posts he made.

Tierney responded to posts including “Delete one thing from the Earth” and “what’s the greatest threat to Earth” with “Islam”.

In another anti-immigration post before the 2024 election, Tierney wrote: “Yes time for change agreed vote reform the only party who will stop the invasion of murderes [sic] and rapists keep our streets clear for women and children”.

In May, Reform said Tierney was under investigation for sharing a post by Britain First, in which he said he believed all mosques should be closed down. He is still a Reform councillor. LFF has approached Reform for comment on whether they are taking action against Tierney.

In Bromley, Reform councillor Dean Miller, who was recorded calling for King Charles to be decapitated because he “is a Muslim” and referred to black children as “animals”, is also facing calls to resign as a councillor.

Graeme Casey deputy leader of the Lib Dem group on Bromley Council, said the Lib Dems “roundly condemn” Miller’s comments, but added: “There’s no recall petition within councils which is frustrating, but we’re seeing what can be done.”

In Parliament, a recall petition allows constituents to remove their MP and trigger a by-election if at least 10% of voters in the constituency sign it.

In a statement on Facebook, Bromley Conservatives called Miller’s comments “unacceptable” and “unbecoming of someone holding public office”. 

“We call on Councillor Miller to step down, so the people of St Paul’s Cray have the chance to elect a community champion, focused on them and their priorities – they deserve nothing less.”

Photo credit: ITV

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward