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Nigel Farage in growing storm over 'racist' Reform councillors as one in London says King 'secretly Muslim'

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Burford, R. (2026, October 15). Nigel Farage in growing storm over 'racist' Reform councillors as one in London says King 'secretly Muslim'. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage-racist-reform-councillors-london-b1300980.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-15 · by Rachael Burford

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Story summary

Reform UK has faced significant backlash after secretly recorded footage revealed its councillors and candidates making racist, sexist, and discriminatory remarks. The ITV investigation, conducted over a year, documented instances where Reform officials advised potential candidates to delete far-right content from their social media before encouraging them to stand. Despite these findings, Reform maintains that there is "no room for racism" in the party and emphasizes ongoing investigations while denying systematic issues.

Alan Feeney, a prominent Reform councillor who made derogatory comments about Asian communities during a local election campaign, has resigned from his positions in Solihull and Birmingham following public outcry. Feeney apologized, stating that his remarks were "wrong, offensive, and completely unacceptable."

Prime Minister Kemi Badenoch urged Reform to take immediate action against those involved in the abhorrent comments, reinforcing the message that there is no place for racism or discrimination in British politics. Meanwhile, party leader Nigel Farage defended Reform by suggesting that the investigation was politically motivated.

Critics argue that while Reform acknowledges individual instances of misconduct, it fails to address systemic issues within the organization. The lack of public defense from Reform MPs following the exposé has further fueled skepticism about the party's commitment to addressing these concerns comprehensively.

Written for “Reform UK Racism Scandal” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Reform UK Racism Scandal
Politics · 12 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 27% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 69/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different topics within Nigel Farage's political activities: one covers recent controversial remarks by a Reform UK member and another discusses general concerns about threats to MPs five years after the murder of Sir David Amess.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 65/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 37 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different incidents involving separate individuals making racist comments, not the same specific occurrence.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 3 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Reform UK party's issues with racial comments, but do not describe the same specific incident occurring at the same time and place.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 65/100
“While both articles cover controversial remarks by Reform UK members and allegations of racism within the party, they describe different incidents involving separate individuals and contexts.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles describe different comments made by separate Reform UK members, not the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
27%
6 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
12
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7849 article(s) · 64 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 64 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rachael Burford
61 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Read More “And I hope the Reform Party will take immediate and firm action against those who’ve been revealed to be making these abhorrent comments.”
Also by Rachael Burford
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 61 articles by Rachael Burford →

Topics

Bromley Conservative Essex ITV Reform

Subjects

Farage PERSON · 5× Reform ORG · 4× Chelmsford GPE · 3× Conservative NORP · 3× ITV ORG · 3× Bromley GPE · 2× Essex GPE · 2× Miller PERSON · 2× Reform UK ORG · 2× Asian NORP · 1×

Narrative

Mr Farage, speaking on a visit to Chelmsford in Essex, said: “You can’t vet people for what they say in the future and of these people on ITV that have caused outrage, the worst of them by far was a Conservative councillor for years and years and years who joined us last year. “I put it to you, if you went and spoke to hundreds of Conservative councillors and tried to provoke them you would find all sorts of things and all sorts of comments said. “It’s just that you never will see an expensive investigation like that into the other parties because the establishment frankly want us out of the picture.”
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-15
🔮 Read More “And I hope the Reform Party will take immediate and firm action against those who’ve been revealed to be making these abhorrent comments.”

Claims (22 extracted, 6 hedged)

The Reform UK leader on Thursday suggested the undercover investigation was carried out “because the establishment frankly want us out of the picture”. uncertain
us → suggest → picture
Another Reform member was filmed saying his area had become “infested” with Asian families. asserted
area → film → families
According to the broadcaster, he said: "Because you never used to get any blacks over in Bromley, and now Bromley [has] massive Nigerian communities there." uncertain
Bromley → accord → communities
In a separate exchange, Mr Miller allegedly referred to local children involved in vandalism, saying: "Like all the ethnic kids, they're not white, they're all black, and they're like animals." uncertain
they → refer → animals
The councillor was also recorded making claims about the King. uncertain
councillor → record → King
According to ITV, Mr Miller said: "Apparently King Charles is a Muslim," before going on to suggest the monarch had betrayed the country and making remarks about beheading him. uncertain
monarch → accord → him
Mr Farage cancelled a press conference in Essex on Thursday morning following the revelations but still went on a walkabout in Chelmsford where he met members of the public. asserted
he → cancel → public
The party leader said one of the people filmed had previously been a Conservative councillor, and while Reform carries out vetting “you can’t vet people for what they say in the future”. asserted
they → say → future
The Prime Minister said Reform UK must take “immediate and firm action” against its councillors. asserted
UK → say → councillors
Asked for his reaction to the revelation, Andy Burnham told reporters reporters during a visit to the North West: “We’ve allowed a poison into our politics in recent years, and it’s time to draw a line under it. asserted
it → ask → it
“In fact, I praised the Leader of the Opposition (Kemi Badenoch) in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon, who herself drew a line at her party conference between her party and that type of politics, and we all need to call it out more. asserted
we → praise → it
“I’m pleased ITV has done this. asserted
ITV → ’m → this
There is no place for any form of racism, antisemitism, discrimination in British politics, and we all should be relentless in repeating that and taking the firmest possible action. asserted
we → be → action
Read More “And I hope the Reform Party will take immediate and firm action against those who’ve been revealed to be making these abhorrent comments.” asserted
who → read → comments
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: "Nigel Farage should face the music and apologise for this vile racism and misogyny from his Reform councillors. asserted
Farage → say → councillors
“The public deserves to know if he’s allowing a culture of racism to fester in his party, but instead he’s hiding away and yet again refusing to take responsibility.” asserted
he → deserve → responsibility
Mr Farage, speaking on a visit to Chelmsford in Essex, said: “You can’t vet people for what they say in the future and of these people on ITV that have caused outrage, the worst of them by far was a Conservative councillor for years and years and years who joined us last year. “I put it to you, if you went and spoke to hundreds of Conservative councillors and tried to provoke them you would find all sorts of things and all sorts of comments said. “It’s just that you never will see an expensive investigation like that into the other parties because the establishment frankly want us out of the picture.” asserted
us → speak → picture
He continued: “We deal appropriately always with people saying and doing bad things, no question about that. asserted
people → continue → that
“We vet much more heavily than the other parties, but you can’t vet against what somebody might say in the future, especially if they’re provoked in conversation.” uncertain
they → vet → conversation
During the walkabout in Chelmsford a man told Mr Farage he was “out of order” for not attending the Clacton by-election count in August, which saw him retain his seat, while Count Binface finished second. asserted
Binface → tell → seat
Mr Farage told the man, who said he used to be an activist: “I didn’t want to get punched.” asserted
I → tell → man
A woman who heckled Mr Farage from a distance was kept away by security staff, and the Reform UK leader did not engage with her comments. asserted
leader → heckle → comments
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