Reform UK candidate Grant StClair-Armstrong resigns over historical comments urging people to 'vote BNP'

Grant StClair-Armstrong, who was due to stand as a candidate in North West Essex, the same constituency as Tory minister Kemi Badenoch, has stood down from the party after comments he made on a blog called Joli Triste in 2010 were unearthed by The Times. In the comments, he said: “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 paper over the blog posts, Mr StClair-Armstrong said: “I’ve got no excuses for that. I think they’re a disgusting party. I don’t like the English Defence League. I don’t like them.” Alongside appearing to advocate for the extreme far-right group, he also posted comments on the website in which he used racial slurs and joked about “female hormones”.

In further comments made to the BBC, Mr StClair-Armstrong that he had “never supported the BNP” and had been forced to stand down as a Reform UK candidate by the party. He said: “I would have let the people decide. I bitterly regret all of those comments made many years ago and I am just sorry that some people deemed it necessary to hunt for them when I am not the person I was then.”

A Reform UK spokesman told The Times: “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.”

Due to the deadline for nominations passing, Mr StClair-Armstrong will still appear on the ballot for the North West Essex, but as an independent rather than a Reform UK candidate. Other candidates in the constituency include Kemi Badenoch (Tories), Erik Bonino (Independent), Edward Gildea (Green), Andrew Green (Independent), Niko Omilana (Independent), Smita Rajesh (Liberal Democrats), and Issy White (Labour).