Cross Party Condemnation of Reform UK Councillor Comments
Two local politicians recorded in ITV investigative report
Cllrs David Kerr and Cllr Adam Parkins made unguarded comments while being secretly filmed by the reporters. Picture: ITV
October 16, 2026
Hounslow’s political leaders have united against “abhorrent” comments uncovered by an ITV investigation into Reform UK, including comments made by two of the party’s councillors in the borough.
The investigation found multiple elected councillors and party candidates expressing racist views or using offensive language. This included one Bromley councillor calling for King Charles to be beheaded for being a Muslim.
The two Hounslow councillors concerned, Adam Parkins and David Kerr, discussed doing stuff “people feel uncomfortable with” and not telling them what it is. Neither of the councillors for Feltham North have responded to a request for comment.
In the footage, Cllr Kerr said: “We’re not f****** stupid enough to p*** off the entire woke south or centrist south really of the country… You need to seem palatable to everyone to get them, to get [the majority].”
Cllr Parkins, added: “The stuff that people feel uncomfortable with, don’t even announce it, just do it… We just need to get f****** elected, that’s all that really matters. We won’t necessarily say what we are doing, part of the point is to not [say].”
Reform UK said it had suspended some councillors but did not specify which ones, so it’s unclear if any action was taken against Cllr Kerr and Cllr Parkins.
Councillor Shantanu Rajawat, Labour Leader of Hounslow Council said: “The racist and misogynistic comments made by Reform councillors up and down the country were shocking and disgraceful. Hounslow has a proud history of tolerance and community. It is a place where we look out for, care for, and respect one another. It is right that Reform has suspended the councillors who made those comments.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has contacted both Hounslow Reform councillors as well as the wider group. No response has been received and both remain listed as Reform councillors.
Cllr Guy Lambert, Leader of the Hounslow Green Party, has called for the pair to be removed from the council. He said: “I am shocked, though another (unsuccessful in May election) Reform candidate has made even more extreme comments to me privately.
“Some of these people look to use the Reform Party as a way into power. ‘However, don’t worry, we’ll use Reform to get in then take it over and then we’ll show you what the right wing is all about’.
“One of my Muslim Green Party members observed ‘I’ve met these Reform councillors and they came across as friendly and pleasant, and I genuinely didn’t realise how unpleasant some of their views could be’. I have the same experience.
“These councillors, together with the Labour member arrested for alleged fraud if convicted, should be removed from the council and the electorate given the opportunity to elect honest councillors.”
Cllr Gurbachan Athwal, of Labour, was arrested and charged with fraud by abuse of position on Friday, 25 September in relation to a separate matter. He is due to appear before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on October 27 – he denies all wrongdoing.
A spokesperson for the Hounslow Conservative Group remarked: “The views expressed by Reform councillors in the ITV exposé were abhorrent. What we hear from Reform seems to be less and less about the issues people care about – support for small businesses, tackling crime, reversing Labour’s damaging tax hikes – and more and more about scandals and infighting.
“Many in Hounslow will see the comments in the exposé and be rightly disappointed.”
Roger Crouch, the Isleworth Liberal Democrat councillor, has joined his opponents in condemning the findings. He told the LDRS: “Behind the veneer of respectability, lies a dangerous and unacceptable side to Reform UK. One of Hounslow’s strengths is the diversity of its population. Residents in the wards represented by Reform UK will, quite rightly, question what their councillors really believe in.”
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
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