A Reform UK council leader accused of posting racist comments on social media has resigned.

Cllr Ian Cooper has stood down as leader of Staffordshire County Council after his party launched an investigation into his social media activity and following an investigation by the campaign group Hope Not Hate.

The group had claimed that Cllr Cooper had posted racist comments online from accounts on X and YoutTube, including comments about Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage subsequently revoked his party membership following a party probe and this week the council announced that deputy leader Cllr Martin Murray will replace him as acting leader, with a permanent appointment made early next year.

‘I recognise that these are challenging circumstances and the strength of feeling surrounding recent events’, said Cllr Murray.

He said that he pledged to ‘represent all residents fairly and with respect’, adding that his priority ‘is to ensure that Staffordshire County Council services continue without hinderance and to showcase Staffordshire as a fantastic county to live, visit and invest’.

Cllr Cooper will continue serving as an independent councillor in Staffordshire, representing the Tamworth Perrycrofts division.

In its investigation Hope Not Hate alleged that Cllr Cooper had ‘posted dozens of racist and bigoted posts’ on social media under personal accounts.

Its investigation had been prompted by claims by X account ReformExposed that Cllr Cooper was listed as a ‘top fan’ of a racist Facebook page called ‘The European Race’.

‘The picture painted by Cooper’s social media posts is of a man who is deeply bigoted and tapped into far-right media and terminology’, said Hope Not Hate concerning the posts it claims are from the Staffordshire County Council leader.

To learn more about Reform UK, check out: Reform UK: What Britain’s fastest rising party stands for and Reform UK’s ‘Doge’ witch-hunts will achieve little.