New Sheffield Reform UK councillor suspended over pro-Nazi social media posts
Woodhouse ward councillor Nathaniel Menday has been suspended by his party over posts, including one where he called the Nazis 'visionaries'
A Sheffield councillor has called for a new Reform UK council member who posted pro-Nazi extremist views on social media to be investigated under the authority’s code of conduct.
Labour member Coun Minesh Parekh has written to Couns Tim Huggan and Maroof Raouf, who chair Sheffield City Council’s audit and standards committee, about new Woodhouse ward councillor Nathaniel Menday.
Menday has since been suspended by Reform UK after posts emerged on social media for "bringing the party into disrepute".
Coun Parekh, who at last Thursday’s election (May 7) retained his seat in Crookes & Crosspool for Labour, wrote: “I have been deeply concerned by the recent revelations relating to Nathaniel Menday, recently elected as councillor for the Woodhouse ward.
“Coun Menday has identified himself as an “ethno-nationalist”, has encouraged the use of a white supremacist symbols, and called the Nazis were “visionaries”. He has also shared pictures of swastikas and blamed Jewish people for the antisemitism they have experienced.
“As you will know, the councillors’ code of conduct requires elected members to uphold the seven principles of public life, also known as the Nolan Principles.
“The third of these, objectivity, requires that holders of public office take decisions without discrimination or bias. A self-defined “ethno-nationalist” – someone who thinks people do or don’t belong based on their racial or cultural identity – clearly falls short in this regard.
“The code of conduct requires members to promote equality and inclusion and not discriminate based on one’s protected characteristic. Again, Coun Menday’s use of white supremacist symbols and attacks on Jewish people fall far short of the standards expected.
“I urge you to act in accordance to your roles, investigate these breaches to the code of conduct, and take appropriate action.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has twice approached Reform UK to find out the outcome of the investigation it announced into Coun Menday’s social media posts. They were first revealed during the election campaign by The Times newspaper.
It reported that he called Nazis “real visionaries” and made comments in 2023 blaming Jewish people for anti-semitism directed at them.
Coun Menday apologised in the newspaper for bringing Reform “into disrepute”, adding: “I am not anti-semitic 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,” he added.
Sheffield LibDem and Labour politicians denounced Coun Menday’s views and called for Reform UK to suspend him as a candidate.
The Sheffield Star this week revealed further posts from an X account that has been deleted, using technology to recover it.
On his return to the UK following a trip to Europe, Coun Menday described a “disgusting, almost subhuman underclass of people bringing the place down”.
Another post praised eugenics – a pseudo-scientific racist practice that resulted in the deaths of people in Nazi concentration camps who were considered unfit to live. That included people who were disabled, Jewish, Roma or homosexual.
The Star report said Coun Menday also shared a picture of Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, one image with a box of Lynx Africa that appears to reveal a swastika flag and SS uniforms on display in a room.