An investigation has found that a number of candidates set to stand for Reform UK in the upcoming local elections have shared offensive and extremist posts online.
In findings published by Hope Not Hate, the group unearthed historical posts from Reform candidates, many of which were highly offensive and Islamophobic.
One Reform candidate, Mark Broadhurst, who is standing in Hatfield, shared a meme featuring Adolf Hitler along with another offensive post captioned ‘How to make a Muslim.’
Hope Not Hate revealed that another candidate, standing in Adwick-Le-Street and Carcroft, had shared six articles from “neo-Nazi organisation Patriotic Alternative” and had “written that Muslims ‘can’t wash off the smell of donkeys’ and ‘cook over burning camel shit.'”
In total, the group found details of social media posts from 14 different Reform candidates.
Other examples of offensive, racist and extremist posts from Reform candidates included one person saying people should be “f***ing terrified” of Islam, another calling for “one big nuke bomb” should be used to remove Islam from the world, and some voicing their support for the likes of Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson.
Many of the posts have been verified by the BBC in their own investigation.
Last year, Reform found itself at the centre of controversy after the party dropped a number of its general election candidates over offensive comments on social media.
Since then, leader Nigel Farage has made much of the party’s efforts to bolster its vetting system for candidates. Speaking at a campaign event in Dover this week, he said Reform UK had a vetting system “that was as good if not better than the other parties.”
Related: Nigel Farage threatens ‘war’ with teaching unions if he becomes prime minister amid racism row