Racism probe does not reflect county, says MP

A Staffordshire MP has said the suspension of the county council's leader from Reform UK for allegedly making racist comments on social media "does not reflect who we are" as a county.

Ian Cooper's membership was revoked on Friday after "an investigation into the failure to declare social media accounts during the candidate vetting process", a party spokesperson said.

Josh Newbury, Labour MP for Cannock Chase, told Politics Midlands the party was grateful that Reform had taken action, but said it should have happened sooner. He called for Cooper to be removed as leader and to resign as councillor for Perrycrofts.

Cooper remains leader of the council but is no longer leader of its Reform group.

His suspension comes after the activist group Hope Not Hate claimed to have found racist posts on an account on X allegedly linked to Cooper.

One of the posts is about former foreign secretary David Lammy which read: "No foreign national or first generation migrant should be allowed to sit in Parliament."

His alleged activity on Facebook also came under scrutiny after a group called Reform UK Exposed claimed he was a top fan of a page called The European Race, which promotes white supremacy.

A top fan is someone who has high engagement with a Facebook page.

He has not responded to repeated requests by the BBC for a comment.

A spokesperson for Staffordshire County Council said proposals to nominate a new leader would need to be agreed at a meeting of full council, which is due to take place on Thursday.

Newbury said there had been "no denial" from Cooper that the accounts belong to him, and that he wrote those posts.

"The whole incident has really been a massive shame for Staffordshire, this doesn't reflect who we are in my constituency or across the whole county, so I really hope Reform councillors will move to remove councillor Cooper as leader as quickly as possible," he told the BBC.

He said it was "clear that Reform's vetting process is inadequate".

"They say that they're a government in waiting, they need to make sure that they're selecting people who can meet the high standards that people expect of their public servants."

"I think a lot of people feel that these comments don't reflect who we are, and so they don't want somebody who holds those kinds of views leading us."

He added that the Conservative Party had "some questions to answer".

"Councillor Cooper was a member of their party for a very long time, so they really should've picked this up and should've taken action when he was a Conservative," he said.

Cooper left the Conservatives in 2009, and joined Reform in 2023.

The BBC has contacted Staffordshire Conservatives for comment.

Following Cooper's latest Facebook comments towards Labour MP for Tamworth Sarah Edwards, Tamworth Conservatives said it was time for for him to "step aside".

Cooper broke his silence on Facebook by commenting on a post by Labour MP for Tamworth Sarah Edwards, who said the behaviour of Reform UK members in Staffordshire was "deeply concerning".

"So far, his colleagues have not condemned this behaviour or these views," she said.

"If this conduct is reflective of the county's leadership, it raises serious questions about the standards and values of Ian Cooper's colleagues."

But in the comments, Cooper told Edwards she was wrong, adding: "The good thing is I don't need to be a politician for the money, unlike some. I can walk away today without consequences.

"You'll have nothing when you're binned in the coming years."

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