Reform councillor suspended after LBC revealed social media post showing bombing of Mecca
A Reform UK councillor, who shared a post on social media depicting a bomb being dropped on Mecca, has been suspended from the party just days after winning a seat on Plymouth City Council.
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Ben Rowe became a councillor in the Plymouth Ham ward overnight last Thursday, winning 1,649 votes.
But Reform UK have now confirmed that "Cllr Rowe has been suspended" from Reform UK as of today "pending investigation”.
Reform UK previously told LBC they were “thoroughly looking into his social media posts”, which have since been removed. The party also claims to maintain “some of the strongest vetting procedures in the country”.
Aside from the post depicting a bomb being dropped on Mecca, LBC has previously revealed a post shared by the now councillor depicting Patrick from SpongeBob as a Muslim with a child bride.
Read more: Reform UK councillor resigns just days after election
LBC asked Mr Rowe for a comment about the posts and was told he “will not comment on the matter,” but it’s been reported that he posted on Facebook to say the posts had been taken out of context and that he had shared them years ago – although it appears this post has also since been removed.
This news comes on the same day we’re hearing another new Reform UK councillor, Stuart Prior, has resigned.
He’d previously denied making racist posts, but a Reform UK source said on Monday he was resigning from his elected positions for personal reasons.
They went on to say they’d also revoked his Reform UK membership.
Mr Prior had been elected to the Rayleigh West division for Essex County Council and to Sweyne Park and Grange ward for Rochford District Council, both with about 40% of the vote.
Reform UK won control of Essex County Council from the Conservatives on Friday, winning 53 of the 78 seats up for election.
Meanwhile, in Plymouth, the party gained 14 seats – including Mr Rowe’s – moving them to the second largest group in the city.