MPs are demanding Reform takes action against this vile, rape-celebrating local election candidate; Reform's track record suggests it won't

Nigel Farage and Stuart Prior, Reform

On 3 May, we reported that investigators confronted a Reform candidate in Essex with his own social media posts. Candidate Stuart Prior said “good, reap it” in response to two Sikh women being raped in separate attacks:

Reform candidate in Essex, Stuart Prior, has celebrated the rape of a sikh woman in comments he made.
Has @Nigel_Farage @TiceRichard @ZiaYusufUK @RobertJenrick condemned his comments? pic.twitter.com/CkckirhiW9

— Narinder Kaur (@narindertweets) May 6, 2026

Now, MPs have demanded Reform takes action and suspends Prior. As we’ve seen from other cases, however, Reform is very reluctant to take meaningful action against its candidates or activists:

Mainstream media have spent days calling @ZackPolanski an antisemite; why are they silent on Reform’s failure to suspend an actual antisemite?

By @willem_moore_uk https://t.co/VlrTrc7R3R

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) May 4, 2026

Action needed

As we reported, a journalist from the Mirror confronted Prior with his own statements. Prior denied having any memory of the statements, and unconvincingly suggested someone had faked the comments. The Mirror highlighted that the account was posting images from Prior’s own house:

They’re always so brave on social media but become cowards when
confronted with their own words.

A reform candidate was confronted about his racist social media posts. pic.twitter.com/YJxMBV8hTp

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) May 2, 2026

As the Guardian have now reported:

Four Labour MPs, Sarah Coombes, Antonia Bance, Gurinder Singh Josan and Alex Ballinger, from the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, West Midlands (in which Oldbury is situated), sent a joint letter to Reform’s leader in Sandwell, Ray Nock, calling on him to condemn the comments.

This letter reads:

The community in Sandwell was shaken to its core last year after a Sikh woman was raped in a racially aggravated attack. It has now emerged that a Reform candidate in Essex, Stuart Prior, has celebrated this attack.

Will you, as the leader of the Reform party in Sandwell, condemn this disgusting behaviour and will you write to Nigel Farage requesting Stuart Prior be immediately withdrawn as a Reform party candidate?

One of the victims Prior ridiculed was a Sikh woman in her 20s. Reporting on the case in September 2025, Maryam Jameela wrote for the Canary:

A Sikh woman in her 20s was raped on 9 September in Oldbury. West Midlands Police have said they are treating the attack as “racially aggravated.”

The Sikh Federation (UK) said that as she was raped, the attackers told the woman:

“You don’t belong in this country, get out.”

The survivor of the attack said:

We are going through a lot, but the strength and kindness shown by the right people in the community has been incredible and I can’t thank them enough for being my voice.

I would never wish this on anyone. All I was doing was going about my day on my way to work, and what has happened has deeply affected us.

Jameela added:

The attackers of the Sikh woman who was raped will undoubtedly have been emboldened by how normalised violent racism has become in this country. The attack was a horrific and repugnant act of violence. To rape someone whilst telling them to get out of your country? What a hateful thing to do. But, it was done with the normalisation of racism from politicians and the mainstream media on the backs of the attackers.

A wider problem

Prior was responding to a post from MP Zarah Sultana which read:

On Saturday, a woman of Punjabi heritage was raped in a racist attack in Walsall.

Last month, a Sikh woman was raped in a racist attack in Oldbury.

These horrifying attacks show how racism and misogyny feed each other — fuelled by the rise of fascism and hate.

As a woman of colour, I know how real and frightening this threat is.

We must stand together — against racism, fascism and misogyny — and fight for a socialist society built on equality, justice and solidarity.

As a reminder, Prior said “good, reap it”.

Many of the replies to Sultana’s post are similarly racist in nature. And as we’ve reported, many Reform candidates in the local elections have been caught voicing similar opinions:

The other thing we’ve reported is that Reform is failing to suspend many of these candidates. Additionally, even when it does suspend people, they sometimes carry on working for the party.

Adam Mitula

On 24 February, we reported that Reform UK had suspended Matt Goodwin’s campaign manager for racist posts. On 14 April, we reported that Adam Mitula had continued to work behind the scenes on election campaigns. Now, it turns out he’s still operating in front of the scenes too:

Remember Matt GPT’s campaign manager Adam Mitula, the one who was supposed to be suspended for antisemitism?

He’s out campaigning for Reform UK.

That’s how seriously they take their suspensions. pic.twitter.com/v76pfik0Qb

— Reform Party UK Exposed 🇬🇧 (@reformexposed) May 3, 2026

Reform suspended Mitula after the world learned he’d engaged in Holocaust denial, as well as posting “I wouldn’t touch a Jewish woman” – a comment he made in 2024. Despite the media’s current interest in labelling the Green Party ‘antisemitic’, they have not given any attention to the fact that an antisemitic Reform activist is continuing to work for the party despite his suspension.

On the topic of Prior, the Guardianreported:

Reform UK, in response to the letter by the Labour MPs, said the party was thoroughly investigating the allegations, and the cases involving Prior and Fox were with the party’s disciplinary team.

We’re now waiting to see if this is a case the party turns a blind eye to or if it’s a suspension which doesn’t mean anything.

Featured image via The Canary

By Willem Moore

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