A BY-ELECTION candidate has been suspended by his party, which has withdrawn its support ahead of voting tomorrow.
Paul Heyward will appear on the ballot in Winterbourne Parish Council’s Winterbourne Ward as a Reform UK candidate.
But the party said today: “Mr Heyward has been suspended from Reform UK and we have withdrawn our support for his candidacy.”
The other candidate standing in the by-election is the Green Party’s Monica Maggs.
On Monday the Greens issued a statement raising concerns about Mr Heyward’s candidacy “following a series of inflammatory messages on social media”.
The party said: “We also ask that consideration be given as to whether a number of Mr Heyward’s social media posts constitute breaches of laws relating to incitement to violence, and hate speech.”
The statement went on to quote examples of posts on a now-deleted X account belonging to Mr Heyward, which the part claims included a comment encouraging someone to shoot the Prime Minister, homophobic abuse, misogynistic comments, an insult used against people with Down’s Syndrome and anti-Muslim abuse.
The Voice has made an approach to My Heyward for a comment.
Two vacancies in Frampton Cotterell
The by-election is one of two taking place in the Frome Valley tomorrow.
The other is in Frampton Cotterell Parish Council’s West Ward, where there are two vacancies.
Reform UK has nominated one candidate, Tom Harris, while the Liberal Democrats have nominated two: Jon Lean, who is already a South Gloucestershire ward councillor for the area, and Kate Andrews.
Vacancies on the parish council in the middle of the four-year electoral cycle, which runs until next year, are often either left empty or filled by a vote of existing councillors, a process known as co-option, if a volunteer can be found.
However in the past six months there have been seven contested elections in parishes across South Gloucestershire, all of which have involved Reform UK candidates.
Another by-election will take place tomorrow in Filton Town Council’s Conygre ward, where Labour and Reform UK are each fielding two candidates: Mac Elmorssy and Andy Mills for Labour and Christopher Lee and Rama Narayanasetty for Reform UK.
By-elections can be held if they are requested by two or more voters living in a ward.
Voting in Winterbourne will take place at at Winterbourne Library, the Greenfield Centre and Whiteshill Evangelical Church, Hambrook.
In Frampton Cotterell, the polling station is at the Charles Room, Crossbow House.
Polls are open from 7am to 10pm.