Election / Reform election candidate criticised for social media posts
THE REFORM UK candidate for Orkney and Shetland has come under fire for comments he has allegedly made on social media in the past – including a suggestion that Nicola Sturgeon should be shot.
Robert Smith’s use of social media has come under the spotlight in the national media today (Tuesday) ahead of Thursday’s general election.
According to the reports there have been a number of posts which take aim at women – with Smith apparently calling former first minister Sturgeon a “silly b*tch”.
In a post in 2016 Smith shared an article and added: “Since the great David Attenborough legitimised calls for political leaders to be shot, why not start with this b*tch?”
It is reported that he also called Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, the “head b*tch of the globalists”.
The Orcadian also said he would “prefer Fred and Rose [West] to any of these c***s” when referring to the Royal Family.
He also reportedly used a homophobic slur when speaking about people who had Covid vaccines, and said that a rainbow symbol used on posters supporting the NHS during the Covid pandemic was “the new swastika”.
Ann Widdecombe, who is now a spokesperson for the party, told The Times newspaper that the comments were “completely unacceptable”.
But the former MP said that the problem was “not unique” to Reform and said she was “not going to have us branded as some sort of naturally racist and misogynist party, because we’re not”.
Reform chairman Richard Tice said on BBC radio that the insults were “appalling”, but added that “like anybody, we make some mistakes”.
It comes as a second Reform UK candidate has defected to the Conservatives over concerns over offensive comments from some party members.
Smith and Reform UK have been contacted for a response.
The other candidates standing in this election are in alphabetical order: Alex Armitage (Greens), Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrats), Robert Leslie (SNP), Shane Painter (Conservatives) and Conor Savage (Labour).
Follow our general election coverage here:
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