Reform candidate who urged people to vote BNP in 2010 quits

Reform UK’s candidate running in Kemi Badenoch’s seat has resigned after historic comments emerged in which he urged people to vote for the BNP.

Grant StClair-Armstrong, a former Tory councillor, said there were “no excuses” for the remarks, made in 2010, and that he had offered to quit.

He was standing for Nigel Farage’s party in North West Essex, a new constituency which is being contested by Ms Badenoch, the Business Secretary.

Reform UK said in a statement that his previous remarks, unearthed by The Times, were “unacceptable” and that it had accepted his resignation.

But he is still set to appear on the ballot paper as the party’s candidate because the deadline for changing nominations has passed.

If elected, he would sit as an independent MP.

‘I’ve got no excuses’

Mr StClair-Armstrong made the comments on a blog he called the “Joli Triste” in 2010.

In a post he wrote: “I could weep now, every time I pick up a British newspaper and read the latest about the state of the UK.

“No doubt, Enoch Powell would be doing the same if he was alive. My solution … vote BNP!”

When approached by The Times, he said: “I’ve got no excuses for that. I think they’re a disgusting party. I don’t like the English Defence League.”

He then said he would tender his resignation, adding: “I don’t really see any alternative.”

The newspaper said it unearthed other comments on the same blog which allegedly included attempts at jokes using racial slurs about Chinese and Pakistani people.

They appeared on an archived version of the site which had since been changed.

‘Website cleaned up’

Mr StClair-Armstrong said he had “cleaned up this website” and that “I removed all that stuff and made the website respectable”.

He added: “It was at a time when I was feeling particularly hard done by, I’d been shafted by a lot of people. I cleaned up my act a long, long time ago.

“I’m sure if you look around you’ll find some really nice posts, how I feel about animals, animal welfare, how I feel about the planet. It’s not all bad.”

A spokesman for Reform said: “Mr StClair-Armstrong has tendered his resignation as a member of Reform UK due to the revelation of unacceptable historic social media comments and we have accepted his resignation.”