A newly-elected Reform UK councillor has been suspended after bringing the party into disrepute by failing to declare social media posts that hailed Nazis as visionaries and described British people as fat, ugly, and poorly dressed.
Councillor's Controversial Posts
Nathaniel Menday, who calls himself an ethno-nationalist, was elected to Sheffield City Council for the Woodhouse ward. He was exposed by The Times for making an antisemitic comment and describing the Nazis as real visionaries. In 2023, on a now-deleted X account, he suggested that Jewish people in the West are responsible for the antisemitism they suffer because they overwhelmingly favour open borders.
He also shared a picture of Berlin's Olympiastadion, built by Nazi Germany for the 1936 Olympics, and said: 'Whichever group of people built this must have been real visionaries!' Additionally, he shared images of swastikas, Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf, and the Sonnenrad, or sun wheel.
The Sheffield Star uncovered more posts through the Wayback Machine, including one where he described people in the UK as being fatter, uglier, and poorly dressed compared to those in continental Europe. 'On top of this we have a disgusting, almost subhuman underclass of people bringing the place down,' he wrote in a now-deleted post.
Menday's Response and Suspension
Before beating Labour's Danny Allsebrook by more than 1,000 votes, Menday told The Times he enjoyed risky humour and pushing boundaries, adding: 'I am not antisemitic nor do I have any Nazi sympathies. I have flirted with what could reasonably be referred to as far-right ideology but ultimately I have come to reject its core tenets. I am passionate about my country but I am and always have been motivated by love, not hate.'
However, on Wednesday, a Reform UK spokesman said: 'Councillor Menday has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation after he failed to declare social media posts which have brought the party into disrepute. Reform UK does not support such comments.'
Nigel Farage Under Investigation
The suspension came as Nigel Farage is facing an investigation by the Commons sleaze watchdog over a £5 million gift from a cryptobillionaire donor. Farage was referred to Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg over the undeclared gift from Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne received in 2024.
The Reform leader has previously insisted there is no case to answer over the gift, which he said was not connected to his political activity and was needed to pay for private security for the rest of his life. He is reported to have received the money in 2024 before he announced he would stand in Clacton at that year's general election.
The commissioner has opened an investigation under rule five of the MPs' code of conduct, which specifies new MPs should register relevant financial interests received in the 12 months before their election within one month of entering Parliament.
A Reform UK spokesman said: 'Mr Farage's office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken. We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.'
Mr Harborne has separately donated millions to Reform, including a £9 million donation in August 2025 – the biggest single donation in history to a political party from a living person.
