Nigel Farage is under mounting pressure to sack a Reform UK mayoral candidate who has reiterated controversial remarks telling Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy he should "go home".
Labour demands candidate's removal
The Labour Party has described the conduct of Hampshire and the Solent mayoral candidate Chris Parry on social media as "racist and grossly offensive". The party insists Mr Farage must now drop the retired Royal Navy officer from the party's ticket.
The row centres on a post Mr Parry made on X, formerly Twitter, in February 2025. In it, he wrote: "Lammy must go home to the Caribbean where (his) loyalty lies." David Lammy, who serves as both Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, was born in London to parents from Guyana.
Candidate doubles down on comments
Instead of retracting the statement, Chris Parry has recently defended it. When challenged, he replied on the platform: "Well, home is where the heart is. That’s the point." This response was first reported by the Independent newspaper.
Further scrutiny of Mr Parry's social media activity has revealed other contentious posts. These include a suggestion that the late Conservative MP Enoch Powell, infamous for his 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech, was "unfulfilled".
Reform UK faces criticism for silence
Anna Turley, the chairwoman of the Labour Party, has led calls for Mr Parry's ejection from Reform. She stated: "How big does the mountain of racist and grossly offensive comments Chris Parry has made have to get before Nigel Farage throws him out of Reform? It’s disgraceful."
She added that Farage's "refusal to take action against racism in his party" showed the dark direction he was dragging politics, and demanded an apology for the delay. Senior figures within Reform UK have repeatedly declined to comment on Mr Parry's posts when approached in recent weeks.
The controversy places Reform UK's leadership in a difficult position as it seeks to present itself as a credible political force. The party's response, or lack thereof, to allegations of racism within its ranks is likely to face continued scrutiny in the run-up to the mayoral election.
