Reform UK Councillor Expelled for Alleged Racist Posts Just FOUR DAYS After Being Elected

Stuart Prior, a newly elected Reform UK councillor, resigned from both Essex County Council and Rochford District Council on 11 May 2026 — just four days after being elected — and was expelled from the party following allegations of racist and Islamophobic social media posts.

Prior was one of 53 Reform members elected to Essex County Council on 7 May, where the party won an outright majority. He won the Rayleigh West division with a majority of 796 votes, taking the seat from the Liberal Democrats. He also won the Sweyne Park and the Grange seat on Rochford District Council.

The allegations were first raised by Hope Not Hate, a campaigning organisation that monitors far-right activity. According to Hope Not Hate, Prior had allegedly described white people as “the master race” and suggested white people have “larger brains.” The organisation also reported that Prior had operated an X account named @essexpriory, which had allegedly posted statements including “Muslims are dirt” and “Muslims are awful, globally” in November, before being deleted earlier in 2026.

When approached by the Daily Mirror before the election, Prior denied making racist posts.

A Reform UK source told ITV News Anglia on 11 May: “Stuart Prior informed us that he was resigning from his elected positions for personal reasons. His membership of the party has been revoked.”

An Essex County Council spokesperson confirmed: “We have had confirmation that the successful candidate for Rayleigh West has resigned from their position as a county councillor.”

Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, criticised Reform UK’s vetting processes following the incident.

The expulsion is notable given comments made by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage just weeks before the election. When asked by BBC Essex in April whether all Reform candidates in the county had been vetted, Farage said: “I know that our candidates will be held to a higher standard than any of the other parties. That’s because we are the challengers. We are the ones taking on the establishment. Yet we have done a good, thorough professional job.”

Prior’s case follows a pattern of Reform UK candidates and officials facing scrutiny over past statements. In March 2026, Chris Parry, Reform’s candidate for the Hampshire and the Solent mayoral election, was suspended for alleged anti-Jewish social media posts. In January, Reform’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, apologised for a joke about George Michael made at a Burns Night supper in 2018. In February, Simon Dudley was sacked as Reform’s housing spokesman following comments about the Grenfell tower disaster.

By-elections will now be held for both the Essex County Council and Rochford District Council seats that Prior vacated.