Reform declines to comment as second Northamptonshire councillor faces offensive Tweet allegations
A newly-elected West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Reform UK councillor allegedly shared social media content including transphobic and racist remarks and support for the far right in the run-up to the local elections.
Councillor Ivan Dabbs was elected at the start of May to represent the Deanshanger and Paulerspury ward on WNC.
An X account in his name was found to have shared tweets from Britain First, a political party campaigning on an anti-immigration platform which is often considered to be far right and anti-Muslim. The X account also shared material by party leader Paul Golding calling for a street demonstration in Nuneaton in February this year.
Reform UK has declined to comment on the tweets. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has also made multiple attempts to contact Cllr Dabbs but received no response.
Content shared and posted on the account, which was active in the months prior to and days after the May elections, repeatedly features Islamophobic and racist comments. Other offensive tweets include the account replying to an image of a trans person with an offensive remark.
Reform UK has not confirmed the account belongs to Cllr Dabbs. However, the profile photo appears to be an image of Cllr Dabbs and a reply sent the day after the election on May 1 explains why he did not attend the count.
This is the second time the party has refused to comment on offensive tweets apparently posted by its members in Northamptonshire.
In April, sexist and racist tweets from an account in the name of fellow Northampton candidate Ron Firman were also met with silence from Reform UK.
The party has not changed its stance and has still chosen not to comment on the matter. It supported Councillor Firman as a representative of Reform UK after Cllr Firman was elected to WNC to represent the East Hunsbury ward. East Hunsbury parish council, where Firman was a sitting councillor, said it issued him a conduct reminder at the time the tweets re-emerged.
Reform has elected its leader and Councillor Mark Arnull will be at the helm of the council. WNC will meet for its first full council meeting in public on Thursday (May 15), at The Guildhall.