‘Violently Islamophobic’ tweets row sees Reform UK vetting process questioned as opposition leaders call for councillor's resignation

Reform UK chairman of North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) Cllr Maurice Eglin resigned today (Thursday, June 11) after offensive social media posts from his days as a 'keyboard warrior' were revealed in an investigation by NN Journal, who uncovered a series of offensive tweets he made on X in 2024.

Admitting he was ‘guilty’ of being a ‘keyboard warrior,’ he said he had made comments he ‘would not post today’.

One political rival called the tweets ‘violently Islamophobic’, while others said he should be sacked by Reform.

Cllr Eglin was elected to represent Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer in May 2025 in a landslide win for Reform UK.

Cllr Helen Harrison, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said there were ‘serious questions to be answered by Reform UK’ and asked for reassurance from NNC leader Cllr Martin Griffiths no other Reform councillors had ‘made unacceptable social media comments’.

She said: “It is clearly right, given the revelations about Cllr Eglin’s tweets, that he has resigned as chairman of the council and apologised.

"However, there are serious questions to be answered by Reform UK.

“Did any local Reform councillors know of Cllr Eglin’s social media comments? If they did, why on earth did they propose him last month to be chairman of the council?

"If they didn’t know of these posts, what does it say about their vetting processes for council candidates?

"Finally, can the leader of the council assure us that he has no other Reform councillors who have made unacceptable social media comments?”

The North Northants Green Group went further, calling for the electorate in his ward of Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer to decide his future.

Their spokesman said: “We are appalled to read the comments Cllr Eglin has made about both the Muslim and Trans communities. The comments made by Cllr Eglin are deeply un-British.

“It’s comments like these that stoke up hate and violence, like burning pride banners in Rushden or encouraging riots in Belfast.

“This kind of bigotry has no place in civic life. We are elected to represent all of our constituents, not just those we agree with.

“He has made the right decision to step down as chair of the council, but having undermined the trust placed in him, we believe it is right for the people of Burton and Barton to decide if he should continue to represent them.”

NNC’s Labour leaders called for Reform to take ‘further, appropriate action’ – remove the whip and stand down from his role as a councillor.

In a statement, the Labour group said: “The offensive views expressed by Cllr Eglin in the historic tweets uncovered today are completely unacceptable and fall far below the standards that residents in North Northants have a right to expect from their councillors.

"This isn’t the first time that we've seen such behaviour from Reform NNC councillors and it raises serious questions about their vetting procedures, how these comments went unaddressed for so long and calls into serious question their judgement in putting Cllr Eglin forward as chairman of North Northamptonshire Council in the first place.

“These offensive tweets have no place in our society and we expect Reform to take further, appropriate action rather than brushing this under the carpet as they’ve done in the recent past when similar behaviour by their councillors has been uncovered and reported.”

Cllr Mark Pengelly, leader of the Labour Group at NNC, said: “I believe the Reform leadership should remove the whip from Cllr Elgin and refer him to Standards for this to be fully investigated.”

Cllr David Baker, the Labour group deputy leader, added: “These historic tweets from Councillor Eglin are horrendous and I would hope that he will do the right thing and stand down from his role as a councillor.

"The residents of Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer deserve someone who reflects the values of respect, equality and inclusion.”

North Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats group, responding to the resignation, said: “Cllr Maurice Eglin has resigned as chairman of North Northamptonshire Council and rightly so.

"We welcome the investigation exposing historic social media posts that were violently Islamophobic, shared content from the far-right group Britain First, and expressed anti-trans views.

“But stepping back from a ceremonial role isn't enough. If these views make him unfit to be chairman, they make him unfit to represent the people of Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer.

“The North Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats call on Cllr Eglin to resign as a councillor and on Reform UK to explain how he was selected, elected and handed senior civic office without any of this coming to light.”

This is the latest in a serious of racially-motivated scandals to hit Reform UK’s North Northamptonshire councillors.

Last year, Robert Bloom was dropped as a councillor after he was said to have directed disgusting racial slurs and abuse at his neighbours. Criminal proceedings are under way.

Then in April, Cllr Frank Kilgallon was forced to apologise to Labour MP for Wellingborough Gen Kitchen after he accused her of pandering to Muslims because she attended an Iftar event.