A month on from the local elections, Reform UK has already been forced to issue a series of apologies and suspensions over the past comments of a number of newly elected councillors. As a result, questions have been raised about the nature – and effectiveness – of the vetting process.<\/p>\n
It’s not unusual for councillors to say things that get them into trouble, or make remarks that will, intentionally or not, generate headlines.<\/p>\n
But when those remarks have been posted on social media months or even years earlier, why are they not being picked up sooner?<\/p>\n
It’s not a just a problem for Reform; Labour<\/a>, the Liberal Democrats<\/a> and Conservatives<\/a> have all had their own issues.<\/p>\n But after the party’s huge successes across Yorkshire, some of their councillors – and council leaders – have been called out on their previous social media posts, and questions are being asked about how they slipped through the vetting net.<\/p>\n Even before the election, the party was being urged to take action over some of those standing.<\/p>\n In Sheffield, The Times highlighted a series of tweets by Nathaniel Menday, including images of swastikas and Hitler’s Mein Kampf.<\/p>\n Menday told the newspaper he had flirted with “far right ideology”, external<\/a> but had come to reject it.<\/p>\n