Shrewsbury Reform candidate accused of saying ‘Starmer doesn’t have Hitler’s charisma or cunning’

A Reform UK candidate who is standing in a Shrewsbury by-election allegedly said that former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “does not have Hitler's charisma or cunning”.

Amelia Jones also reportedly said "it should concern us all that we allow barbarians into the country" when discussing immigration, and said Raise the Colours founder Ryan Bridge - who has pleaded not guilty this month to racially aggravated harassment, threatening behaviour and assault charges - is "a great fella".

All of the historic comments were reportedly posted on Facebook this year and have since been deleted.

A spokesperson for Reform UK's Shrewsbury branch said: "What do Shrewsbury residents care about more: old Facebook comments, or the Lib Dems hiking their Shropshire Council tax by 8.99 per cent and their town council tax by 97.9 per cent?"

Ms Jones did not respond to a request for comment.

She is one of six candidates standing in the Battlefield by-election on December 3 in a bid to join Shrewsbury Town Council.

The by-election has been called following the resignation of Harry Hancock-Davies, who also represented Reform.

After Ms Jones was selected she said her priorities if elected will include “tackling litter, improving street cleaning and kerbside management, and pressing for action on the traffic and infrastructure problems that residents say leave Battlefield gridlocked”.

However, historic comments that Ms Jones allegedly made have since come to light.

These include:

• On Adolf Hitler: "Hitler started this way, stopping free speech. But Starmer does not have Hitler's charisma or cunning."
• On immigration and sexual violence: "It should concern us all that we allow barbarians into the country who have not followed the proper procedure for entry. If people want to come here or leave, they need to do it properly. I have to use ports and airports. We cannot financially support these people nor can our infrastructure support the hundreds of thousands of houses being put up countrywide for them. Our council tax should not be used to fund them. It causes councils to fail.
• On Ryan Bridge, founder of Raise the Colours: "Ryan is a great fella. Takes a lot of flack but stands up for what many of us believe in. I'm proud to be a supporter of Raise the Flags and Raise the Colours. This is my opinion and you are entitled to yours so don't bother replying to my comment. If you abuse me, then expect it back tenfold."

Councillor Alex Wagner, the campaign manager for Liberal Democrat candidate Kate Fejfer, said: “Did Reform not bother checking [Ms Jones’s social media], or did they know and simply not care? If they can’t even vet their candidates properly, how on earth could they be trusted to run Shrewsbury?

“Kate Fejfer has spent years working for our community. She’ll turn up, listen and get things done. That’s what Battlefield deserves, a proper, hard-working councillor, not someone who sees the office as a platform for extremist views.”