Two Reform UK councillors from Hounslow are under investigation by their party after being secretly filmed appearing to advocate the mass killing of grooming gang members, as an ITV documentary exposes extreme views among the party’s ranks.
Adam Parkins and David Kerr, who represent Reform on Hounslow Council in west London, were recorded by undercover reporters for ITV’s Exposure programme, “Undercover: A Year In Reform”, which airs on Sunday night.
What the footage shows
According to reports of the documentary, Parkins told an undercover reporter that if he were prime minister he would carry out executions of grooming gang members in the Downing Street rose garden. Kerr is reported to have spoken about lining up thousands of grooming gang perpetrators to be shot.
Kerr stood as Reform’s candidate in Brentford and Isleworth at the 2024 general election. Both men were filmed during the investigation, which placed undercover reporters alongside Reform candidates and councillors across England and Wales over the course of a year.
Parkins told reporters that advocating the death penalty for those who groom and abuse children was a legitimate political opinion. Kerr did not respond to requests for comment.
Powell suspended
The documentary has also led to the suspension of party activist Jason Powell, who had applied to become a Reform parliamentary candidate. He was recorded saying that a person could not be both Muslim and British, and suggesting that migrants arriving illegally should be held in camps if they could not be returned to their countries of origin.
Reform confirmed Powell had been suspended from party membership pending an internal investigation. A party spokesperson said there was “no room for racism” in Reform, adding that investigations had been opened where members had “clearly behaved inappropriately”.
The party is also pursuing legal action against ITV and the documentary’s production company over the undercover methods used to obtain the footage.
Wider investigation
The programme is reported to have uncovered racist language and extreme views among several elected councillors and candidates, as well as discussions about concealing such views from voters to win power. One councillor was filmed saying candidates needed to seem “palatable” to win majorities. Reform has said its vetting procedures have been improved since the footage was recorded.
The documentary, made by Hardcash Productions, follows a year of undercover reporting during by-election campaigns and the run-up to local elections. Its broadcast on Sunday night is expected to intensify pressure on Nigel Farage’s party, which has grown rapidly since the general election but has faced repeated questions about the calibre of its local representatives.
The broadcast comes days after a separate controversy involving a Bromley Reform councillor filmed making racist remarks, as London Streets reported — a reminder of the scrutiny facing the party’s rapid expansion in London boroughs. In Hounslow, as in Bromley, the question now is whether the councillors filmed will remain in their seats or follow others out of the party.
Reform’s response to the latest revelations — suspensions, investigations and legal threats — will do little to end the questions about how thoroughly the party vets those who stand under its banner. With the documentary airing tonight, more revelations may yet follow.
For Hounslow residents, the immediate question is one of representation: two of their borough’s councillors now face internal investigation over remarks made when they believed no voter was listening. Whether they remain Reform councillors by the end of the week may depend on what else the documentary reveals — and how the party chooses to handle its latest vetting crisis.
Read more of our coverage of the Reform UK investigations and the latest London crime figures.
