"Oh god, we're all going to end up in the papers," Reform councillor said on tape
The Guardian reports that an ITV investigation recorded racist, misogynistic and violent remarks by Reform UK councillors and candidates. Reform says it has opened investigations and suspended some people, while challenging the journalists' methods.
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Oct 14, 22:00 UTC ·
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Three councillors have left Reform UK after an undercover investigation reportedly recorded racist, misogynistic and violent remarks, putting the party's promises to vet its election candidates under scrutiny. [1]
The Guardian reported on October 14, 2026, that a year-long ITV investigation had filmed Reform councillors and candidates making the comments. The first revelations aired that day, ahead of a documentary scheduled for October 18. [1]
Among those named was Alan Feeney, a Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull, in England's West Midlands. According to the Guardian's account, he made racist remarks about Asian homeowners and advocated a limit on the non-white share of Britain's population. [1]
Reform said it was investigating members, activists and councillors who had "clearly behaved inappropriately". It said some people had been suspended while due process continued. The party also accused ITV and Hardcash Productions, the company behind the investigation, of deception in gaining access to its headquarters. [1]
The recordings have not been independently verified. The third departing councillor has not been named, and not everyone whose remarks are at issue has responded. Further footage is expected, making this a developing story. [1]
The remarks and the departures
According to the Guardian, Feeney said that "no more than 1% of [the] British population can be non-white". The report also described footage of him discussing where a local mosque might be built with Chris Whelan and Jamie Campbell, both identified as Reform councillors. [1]
After racist comments during that discussion, Feeney said, "Oh god, we're all going to end up in the papers", according to the Guardian. [1]
The report said Feeney had left Reform "for personal reasons". Whelan announced on October 12 that he had resigned from the party "on personal and health grounds". Campbell remained in post at the time of publication. [1]
Three councillors have left Reform while investigations into members' conduct are under way. [1]
The allegations extend beyond the Solihull discussion. The Guardian reported that the recordings showed a Bromley councillor calling for King Charles to be killed, and another councillor making sexual and misogynistic remarks about female colleagues. [1]
The article also named Dean Miller, a Reform councillor for Bromley, as having been filmed discussing people crossing the English Channel illegally during campaigning for the Makerfield by-election, a vote to fill a single parliamentary seat between general elections. That description does not itself establish that Miller made the separately reported threat against the King. [1]
The reported conduct therefore raises several issues for the party at once: racial exclusion, remarks about violence and the treatment of women within its own ranks. Each allegation needs to be assessed against the recording and the response of the person involved. A party-wide statement cannot settle those individual cases.
Reform challenges the undercover operation
Reform's response combined an acknowledgement of inappropriate behaviour with an attack on how the investigation was conducted. It accused ITV and Hardcash Productions of using "extreme methods of deception" to enter its headquarters. [1]
According to the party's statement, an undercover journalist used altered identification documents, a false address and false credentials. These are Reform's allegations about the reporting operation, rather than independently established findings about the journalists' conduct. [1]
The party also said the investigation omitted a security issue involving people who wished its members harm. It said a police investigation relating to security breaches against its leader, Nigel Farage, was ongoing. [1]
Those objections concern access and security. They do not, by themselves, answer what the recorded speakers said. Reform's own statement that some people had behaved inappropriately makes its disciplinary decisions an important next test: who is investigated, what conduct is established and what action follows.
A test of the vetting promise
Reform has repeatedly pledged over the previous two years to remove "extremists" and "bigots" and introduce vetting, according to the Guardian. The party said it vetted everyone seeking to stand for election. [1]
Vetting is a promise made before a candidate reaches the ballot. An investigation after someone has become a councillor is a different safeguard. If the recordings substantiate the reported remarks, Reform will need to explain how the people involved passed its checks and what those checks were designed to catch.
The response has already disrupted the party's plans. The Guardian reported that Farage postponed an announcement planned for the morning of October 15 as Reform dealt with the revelations. [1]
More material is expected, including footage reportedly filmed inside Reform's London headquarters. ITV's programme, "Undercover: A Year In Reform", is scheduled for October 18 at 10.20pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player. [1]
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