Farage urged to drop candidate doubling down on claim Lammy should ‘go home’

Nigel Farage is facing calls to sack a Reform UK mayoral candidate who has doubled down on claims that Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy should “go home” to the Caribbean.

Hampshire and the Solent mayoral candidate Chris Parry’s conduct on X was described as “racist and grossly offensive” by the Labour Party, which insisted Mr Farage should now drop him.

The retired Royal Navy officer in February posted on social media site X: “Lammy must go home to the Caribbean where (his) loyalty lies.”

Mr Lammy, who is also the Justice Secretary, was born in London to Guyanese parents.

Further examples of Mr Parry’s use of social media have since come to light.

This included a reply in which he recently defended his original post about Mr Lammy.

“Well, home is where the heart is. That’s the point,” Mr Parry said, in a post first reported by the Independent newspaper.

Elsewhere, the Reform candidate also suggested that Enoch Powell, the Tory politician whose infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech stoked racial tensions in the 1960s, was “unfulfilled”.

Anna Turley, chairwoman of the Labour Party, suggested Mr Parry should be ejected from Reform.

She said: “How big does the mountain of racist and grossly offensive comments Chris Parry has made have to get before Nigel Farage throws him out of Reform? It’s disgraceful.

“Farage’s refusal to take action against racism in his party shows what a dark place he’s dragging politics to. He should finally drop Chris Parry as a candidate, kick him out of his party, and apologise for failing to take action sooner.”

Senior Reform UK figures have declined to comment on Mr Parry’s posts when asked about them in recent weeks.

Reform UK was contacted for comment.