Nigel Farage has been urged to drop a Reform UK candidate who called for “every Muslim” to be deported from Britain because the public cannot tell them apart from terrorists.
Kate Michaela, who is standing in Adur district council, in West Sussex, on May 7, shared several offensive posts, including one that said “every Muslim must leave the UK by 2030”.
The Reform candidate also shared a post by Tommy Robinson, the far-Right activist, describing Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, as a “dumb b—-” who was allowing Islam to “take over Britain”.
Ms Michaela, a beauty salon owner, also reposted a Kremlin conspiracy theory that linked Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile.
Social media post
The Labour Party and the Conservatives have both demanded that Mr Farage remove Ms Michaela from his candidate list and stop any funding or resources for her campaign.
Anna Turley, the chairman of the Labour Party, said: “The comments made by this Reform UK candidate are racist, simple as that.
“For Nigel Farage and Reform to put a person with these despicable views on to the ballot paper is reprehensible.
“Farage must act immediately by condemning these posts and kicking his candidate out of his party.”
‘Deeply concerning’ comments
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Party chairman, said: “These reported comments including Islamophobia, conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination misinformation are deeply concerning.
“They raise serious questions about Reform UK’s vetting and judgment. The public will rightly ask how someone expressing such views was ever approved to stand.
“Reform UK must urgently explain what checks were carried out and what action will now be taken.” Reform UK has been approached for comment.
On Feb 28, Ms Michaela shared a post on Facebook that read: “This is Islam … here’s the catch. Let’s say they all came to Britain without their guns and uniform, they mix in with other Muslims, could you tell the difference?? Not a chance, this is why they all have to go.
“Our government has allowed these people into our country and now we are seeing the effects of Islam take [sic] over the UK with Sharia courts in place, celebrating Ramadan, asking people to donate to their charity for their cause.
“They are winning and growing. Every Muslim must leave the UK by 2030.”
Social media post
Both Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman, and Laila Cunningham, the party’s candidate for Mayor of London, are Muslim.
Mr Farage has also distanced himself from calls for “mass deportations”, a factor in Rupert Lowe’s expulsion from the party last year.
In March, Ms Michaela shared a screenshot of an exchange between Ms Cooper and Mr Robinson on X. The Foreign Secretary wrote: “I’m appalled by continuing restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s new criminal procedure code legitimises domestic violence and targets women and minorities.”
Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, replied: “It’s Islam you dumb b—-, the same Islam you are allowing to take over Britain.”
Ms Michaela shared a post in which someone had added: “Lol, Tommy’s bang on.”
Ms Michaela shared this post by Tommy Robinson, sent in response to Yvette Cooper. His offensive word has been removed
Later that month, she shared an AI-generated image of Epstein embracing Mr Zelensky in a post that suggested the Ukrainian president had been groomed by the sex offender.
The post was captioned: “Your [sic] watching a movie, there it is. This is way deeper than most understand. They groom and reuse the survivors.”
The fake image was largely shared by pro-Kremlin media in early February after the latest release of Epstein files included an image of Epstein embracing Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of the paedophile, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence for sex trafficking. Mr Zelensky was falsely superimposed on the image.
Ms Michaela criticised those being vaccinated in Kent after a meningitis outbreak in the county killed two students and resulted in 19 others being taken to hospital.
She shared a number of videos of students at the University of Kent queuing to be vaccinated and wrote “here we go again” followed by a series of clown emojis.
Anti-Vacc social media post
Reform UK previously said it supported “proven vaccination programmes” but warned against “blind obedience to every vaccine without question or evidence”.
Last month, Mr Yusuf defended the party’s selection of candidates. He said: “Reform has vetted over 8,000 candidates over the last couple of years. Even if our success rate is 99.9 per cent, a handful will slip through.”