Reform UK Suspends Councillor Menday Over Undeclared Extremist Social Media Posts

Reform UK has suspended councillor Mark Menday after he failed to declare social media posts that included a Nazi flag with a swastika, an image of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, and a suggestion that the UK has a "subhuman underclass." A party spokesperson said Reform does not support such comments.

The BBC sought comment from Menday but received no immediate reply.

Ahead of the election, The Times published an article on Menday's social posts. Those posts allegedly encouraged white supremacist symbols and claimed "Jewish people in the West" bore responsibility for antisemitism because they "overwhelmingly favour open borders."

Menday told the paper he enjoyed "risky humour and pushing boundaries." He added, "I am not antisemitic nor do I have any Nazi sympathies."

"I have flirted with what could reasonably be referred to as 'far-right ideology' but ultimately I have come to reject its core tenets," Menday said.

"I am passionate about my country but I am and always have been motivated by love, not hate."

On Wednesday, the Sheffield Star reported more posts from Menday's now-deleted X account. In one, he described people in the UK as "fatter, uglier and poorly dressed" compared to those in continental Europe. He added, "On top of this we have a disgusting, almost subhuman underclass of people bringing the place down."

A Reform spokesperson said in a statement, "Cllr Menday has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation after he failed to declare social media posts which have brought the party into disrepute." The spokesperson said there was no timeline for the investigation.

Menday's suspension came the same day that Reform's Ken Tranter, elected to the Aldershot South seat on Hampshire County Council, apologised for a social media post calling for police action over "non white persons taking over" a town park.