Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has been secretly filmed appearing to advise his communications director on how to manage a mayoral candidate accused of racism.
The footage, captured as part of an ITV Exposure documentary set to be broadcast on Sunday evening, shows Mr Farage discussing Chris Parry, the party's mayoral candidate for Hampshire and the Solent. Mr Parry had previously faced accusations of racism over a social media post targeting Labour MP David Lammy.
In the undercover filming, Mr Farage is heard telling Ed Sumner, Reform UK's director of communications, that Mr Parry "must apologise" to Mr Lammy. The conversation follows a press conference where Mr Farage had publicly stated Mr Parry should issue an an apology.
The footage records Mr Farage saying: "It’s showing a bit of... bit of sorrow. Look, ‘I’m sorry’ is probably a good thing to hear. Just take the f***ing deal."
When Mr Sumner tells Mr Farage that Mr Parry was not happy with a drafted apology text, the Reform UK leader responds: "No, I'm sure, but he must do it and move on…Tell him that from me."
The interaction shows Mr Sumner telling Mr Farage: "you’re protecting him." After Mr Farage departs, Mr Sumner is then heard to remark: "He's lucky, if it was up to me, I'd have kicked him out f***ing months ago."
The incident concerns a social media post made by Mr Parry in January, amidst speculation that the government was considering talks regarding reparations for slavery. In the post, Mr Parry wrote: "Lammy must go home to the Caribbean where his loyalty lies."
At the time of the original post, the Labour party condemned the remarks as "racist and grossly offensive." Mr Parry subsequently issued an apology "for any distress or offence" caused by his statement.
It is understood that Mr Parry was later suspended from Reform UK after he reportedly appeared to compare a Jewish neighbourhood watch group to "Islamists on horseback" following an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances. This later suspension was for a separate incident from the Lammy comments.
In response to the ITV filming, Mr Sumner told ITV News: "Nothing in the excerpts [of filming] discloses any wrongdoing, criminal activity or breaches of Reform UK policy by me… I do not endorse extremism or bigotry, or any concealment of extremism and bigotry."
Labour has strongly criticised the revelations, with party chair Bridget Phillipson stating that the footage is "shocking and deeply disturbing." Ms Phillipson called on Mr Farage to "urgently explain why he allegedly stood by [Mr Parry]..... instead of kicking him out of his party."
"These latest shocking and deeply disturbing revelations go right to the top of Reform UK, Nigel Farage needs to wake up and realise the buck stops with him," Ms Phillipson added.
She further stated: "Time and again Farage has had every opportunity to demonstrate leadership and get Reform’s house in order and every single time he has failed. In Reform’s own words: they’re defending the indefensible. They are completely unfit for office."
The ITV investigation reportedly uncovered further allegations of problematic conduct within Reform UK.
These include footage from a day before the Farage conversation was revealed, showing Reform UK councillors allegedly referring to Muslims as "parasites" and describing Black children as "animals." Details of these specific individuals were not immediately available.
Additionally, Reform MP Sarah Pochin was filmed expressing concerns about her treatment within the party. Speaking at a time when she was reportedly the party’s only female member of parliament, Ms Pochin was captured saying in response to news of a new female press officer: "Oh thank f*** for that. God! We so need women press officers… They are so f***ing chauvinistic."
Ms Pochin continued: "I go out on all the shows and go ‘Oh no, it’s lovely, oh they’re all so welcoming’. Sh**... they just exclude you if you’re a woman... It’s really tough being a girl with all of this alpha male sh** going on."
A Reform UK spokesperson addressed Ms Pochin's comments, stating that she had raised concerns about her experience and "those concerns were taken seriously." The spokesperson added: "Reform has come a long way as a party. We’ve grown enormously in a short space of time, and we’ve been working to address issues as they arise."
The investigation also reportedly detailed an instance where an undercover reporter, considering a run to be a Reform UK councillor, was advised to delete their social media account if it contained support for Tommy Robinson.
In a vetting interview with Ian Frost, chair of a local Reform branch in Chester, the reporter informed him of past social media posts supporting Tommy Robinson. Mr Frost reportedly replied: "Anything where you've got, things, Tommy Robinson or anything like that, okay, I would delete the account and I'd start again."
Reform UK issued a broader statement in response to the ITV investigation, expressing that the party is "extremely concerned" that ITV and Hardcash Productions have "used extreme methods of deception."
The party's statement continued: "There is no room for racism in Reform UK. We always respect due process of investigations and whilst these are ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases."
The Independent approached Ms Pochin for comment.
