Reform UK
suspends mayoral candidate over comments on Jewish group
Chris
Parry referred to members of neighbourhood watch group as ‘cosplayers’ after
ambulance arson attack
Ben Quinn
Political correspondent
Tue 24
Mar 2026 16.21 GMT
Reform UK
has suspended one of its key mayoral candidates after he described members of a
Jewish neighbourhood watch group as “cosplayers” and likened them to “Islamists
on horseback”.
Chris
Parry, who had remained the mayoral candidate for Hampshire despite a previous
controversy in which he said David Lammy should “go home” to the Caribbean,
made the latest comments on Monday about Shomrim, a volunteer group that
safeguards communities including Orthodox Jewish families.
The
former rear admiral was condemned for comments made when he retweeted a post on
X by Catherine Blaiklock, a co-founder of the Brexit party, hours after news
emerged of an arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity in London.
“Can
Christian’s [sic] in Britain set up their own police and patrol certain
neighbourhoods?” said Blaiklock, who posted a picture of a number of Shomrim
vehicles.
Parry
shared the post, adding: “Remember that these cosplayers have no more
jurisdiction or legal authority than ordinary citizens.”
When he
was challenged over the original post’s characterisation of Shomrim, Parry
replied: “They are a community organisation, not a legal entity. It’s the same
with Islamists on horseback.”
When
contacted by the Guardian after news that he was being dropped and would be
investigated, Parry said that was not what he understood and that he was
“mid-Atlantic”.
A Reform
UK spokesperson said: “Chris Parry has been suspended by Reform UK pending
investigation.” The party has also suspended his mayoral candidacy.
Shomrim
has worked alongside Hatzola, the charity ambulance service that was targeted
by arsonists early on Monday morning and provides emergency medical response
and transportation to hospitals for both Jewish and non-Jewish people.
Shomrim’s
president, Rabbi Herschel Gluck, described Parry’s comments on Monday as
“ignorant” of the organisation’s work, adding: “It shows a level of bias and
ignorance which I’m surprised at given that this is a politician who aspires to
be a mayor.”
Parry,
who is also the honorary president of Veterans for Reform, a group that brings
together ex-military personnel supporting the party, had been set to stand in
the Hampshire and the Solent mayoral contest in 2028.
He had
apologised for his “clumsily worded” post on X about Lammy in January after
saying the deputy prime minister, who was born in London to Guyanese parents,
should “go home to the Caribbean” where his “loyalty lies”.
Nigel
Farage had expended political capital on defending Parry, describing some of
his past comments as “a bit rich” but insisting he was “intensely patriotic”
and had given enormous service to the UK.
However,
the latest controversy appears to have tipped the Reform UK leader over the
edge as he faced being questioned about Parry’s latest comments at a time when
Jewish communities are reeling after the arson attack in Golders Green and
Reform is preparing for elections in May.
The party
now faces having to find a new candidate to replace Parry for the Hampshire and
the Solent mayoralty, a new post created after a new combined authority was
agreed by the government. Reform would have been in a strong position to win.
The
Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson, Max Wilkinson, had called on
Farage earlier in the day to drop Parry. He later said: “This is a good start,
but Farage has some way to go. There are serious questions to answer as to how
this candidate got approved in the first place.”
Calvin
Bailey, a Labour MP who wrote to Farage about previous comments attributed to
Parry, including calling female MPs “harpies”, said: “It should not take
repeated incidents for basic standards of decency to be upheld.”
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