It may be one of the oldest tricks in the book, but Luke Campbell and his team didn’t manage to avoid media scrutiny in the way they had hoped on Friday. The Reform Mayor for Hull was questioned about allegations of cyber-flashing, before being pulled away from the cameras by one of his colleagues.
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Who is Luke Campbell?
Campbell, a former professional boxer, has been accused of sending sexualised images of himself by a former member of staff, with the pictures allegedly originating from a magazine shoot he did in 2012. He has always protested his innocence in the matter, and issued another firm denial earlier this week.
“I strongly deny the allegations. I can’t wait and I’m excited for the police to come to a conclusion, so then we can move forward and I can get my job done. It’s not stopped me. It’s all political point scoring. Business is business. I’ve said this is all nonsense and I strongly deny it.” | Luke Campbell
‘It is all nonsense’ – Hull’s Reform Mayor
Three Hull MPs elected for Labour in 2024 – Diana Johnson, Emma Hardy and Karl Turner – sent a letter to Nigel Farage last week, asking the Reform leader to suspend the mayor while the investigation is underway. However, the party have hit back, branding the issue as a ‘meritless workplace dispute’.
On Friday evening, Luke Campbell was confronted about the allegations by an ITV journalist. The Reform representative simply repeated his denials, and referred to a statement he made earlier in the day. He did not answer the question directly, and was subsequently ushered away by a staff member.
Reform Mayor accused of taking ‘world’s worst fake call’ amid cyber-flashing probe
A woman on Campbell’s team interrupted the reporter, abruptly asking the mayor to ‘come for a chat’. She then told him that she ‘needed him to take a call’ – despite there being no visible call screen on the phone. She also appears to put the device away once the pair enter another room.
The footage of the bizarre exchange has been shared far and wide, drawing derision from social media users. Even the Labour Press account has got involved, suggesting that Mr. Campbell took ‘the world’s worst fake phone call’. Based on this evidence, it’s not a bad shout…