Reform UK candidate for Banbury suspended for defending Jimmy Savile

A Reform UK candidate for the Oxfordshire local elections has claimed that Jimmy Savile was an “innocent man” and a “working class hero” as well as being his “role model”.

Stephen Hartley, who is standing for the Banbury Hardwick division in the upcoming county council elections, has received a huge backlash for showing support for the prolific abuser who died in 2011.

A series of public social media posts between October 2021 and April 2022 protesting Savile’s innocence have been widely condemned by horrified politicians across the county.

In an X post published on Thursday (April 3), Sean Woodcock, Labour MP for Banbury, said: “So Reform UK have opted to put forward, in the area I grew up, someone who thinks that Jimmy Savile was ‘an innocent man, a real working class hero’ as a potential Oxfordshire county councillor?”

He also attached screenshots of Mr Hartley’s X posts, which are still available to view on his profile at the time of writing.

Mr Woodcock told us: “Mr Hartley should be nowhere near public office with such appalling views.”

Leader of Oxford City Council Susan Brown quote-tweeted the post, and said it was “absolutely shocking” from Reform UK.

When contacted for comment, Mr Hartley said: “I stand by my claims that Jimmy Savile was a working-class hero.

“These allegations were never proven and really how it came out after his death was the worst thing.”

He added the “campaign” against Savile was “not a true reflection of who he was”.

Mr Hartley previously ran as the Reform UK candidate for Banbury Hardwick in the 2021 county council elections and Cherwell District Council elections.

In April 2022, he said on X: “The established elite don’t like a self-made man, a working class hero. Saville was one, Putin is another. So they make up horrible lies about them and let the media do the rest.”

In a post from February 2022, he called Savile “a role model of mine”.

Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Leffman, who stood as leader of the county council since 2021, said: “It is shocking that the Reform party has allowed someone with these unacceptable views to be a candidate.

“The lack of integrity that the Reform party has demonstrated by allowing him to stand is an abuse of the public’s trust in the democratic process.”

Cllr Eddie Reeves, who was standing as the leader of the Conservative group, said: “Many of Reform’s candidates are not people with track records of public service and Sean is right to draw the public’s attention to these emetic comments.

“If a Conservative candidate had made these comments, he or she would be stood down.

“Let us see what, if any, action Reform now take.”

Councillor Ian Middleton, leader of the Green group, said: “This person’s Twitter feed seems to be a bilious stream of consciousness including recent attacks on the NHS, support for Putin, and conspiracy theories about the moon landings.

“But this comment is truly sick and twisted.

“Jimmy Saville was a monster who systematically abused children over a prolonged period.

“He was not a hero in any sense of the word, regardless of his background. To refer to him as such is absolutely abhorrent.”

Shortly after Mr Hartley’s posts became public, he was suspended by Reform UK and removed as a candidate in the upcoming elections.

Speaking to the BBC, a Reform UK spokesperson said: “Mr Hartley has been suspended as a member and is now not a Reform UK candidate.

"We have subsequently withdrawn all support for his candidacy."

This comes after Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage used the slogan “Reform Will Fix It” during a recent rally in Birmingham, as viewers pointed out similarities between the slogan and Savile’s famous catchphrase “Jim’ll fix it”.

The other candidates standing in the division are Christophe Aramini (Lib Dem), Andrew Crichton (Labour), Simon Garrett (Independent), Chris Nelson, (Green) and Oliver Perera (Conservative).

The election will take place on May 1, and the deadline for registering to vote is April 11.