A REFORM UK councillor says a Staffordshire County Council cabinet member has her full backing after he faced calls to resign over social media posts.
Cllr Peter Mason, who holds the portfolio for strategic highways, apologised for his “choice of words” on black women and the police.
In March 2024, his now-deleted account on X – previously Twitter – posted “what a surprise a statue of a fat-arsed black woman”, while in April 2024 he wrote “utter rubbish the police now are a bunch of politically-indoctrinated British-hating scum”.
Comments about transgender people were also highlighted by an anti-Reform UK account on the social media platform.
Cllr Mason has since said he regrets the choice of words, adding that the posts pre-dated his election and came “during a difficult time personally” when he was “affected by grief and redundancy”.
However, the Conservatives have called for him to resign over the “abhorrent” posts.
But in an internal email to all county council members seen by Lichfield Live, Reform UK’s representative for Lichfield Rural East Cllr Tracey Dougherty said the Cllr Mason continued to have her full support.
She said:
“I feel that this is an unjustified attack on Peter simply because the opposing parties are running scared.
“I attended Alrewas Remembrance Day and amongst the wreaths from the residents was a wreath with our Reform UK in the middle. This shows that we have a huge support across the country.
“It also gave me the realisation that as they have put their faith in me and us as a party. All we need to do is stand strong and keep telling the truth. No-one can argue with the truth.
“We are stronger united. Keep that in mind going forward – and Peter, you also have my full support.”
The e-mail trail – which was originally sent only to Reform UK members before being copied in to all county councillors by Cllr Dougherty – also shows support from other Reform UK members, with Cllr Patrick Allen saying he supported Cllr Mason in the face of “politically-motivated attacks”.
The county council leader Cllr Ian Cooper told his members in a communication which sparked the emails:
“I don’t intend for Peter to resign, nor be bullied by the opposition. They are using this because of their own local difficulties. We stick together.
“Peter has already publicly apologised for any offence or misunderstanding that may have been caused. He continues to serve the people of Staffordshire with dedication, integrity, and openness.”
Cllr Cooper added that the social media posts had been examined by the county council’s monitoring officer who said they “did not have any recommendations to make”.
He also produced a “draft defence” his party could use if challenged, urging them to be “positive, proactive and on the offensive – never try and justify or show weakness”.
Cllr Cooper’s email said that Cllr Mason’s comments came “during a period of personal hardship”, adding that he deleted the posts after “recognising they reflected a moment of vulnerability – not his values or character”.
He also told his party’s county councillors that Cllr Mason “is not and has never been a supporter of Tommy Robinson” – and said that his colleague’s comments on a statue of a black woman was “a critique of public art”.
All the Reform Cllrs. comments/excuses are laughable, especially “a critique of public art” and why would grief and redundancy cause anyone to make such comments? I don’t think his comments were misunderstood, they were very explicit and clear and he wouldn’t be apologising if he hadn’t been found out. Hugh support simply from the laying of a wreath? This really is clutching at straws or is that poppies.
A few corrections for Cllr Dougherty. The ‘attack’ was not just from opposing parties. Residents who have no membership of political parties are also disgusted by his comments. The positioning of a wreath, with or without a Reform logo, has no connection with the level of support (or otherwise) and most people would find it abhorrent that you are seeking to politicise remembrance. The ‘truth’ and the Reform party are not natural bed fellows. You may need to look at what some of your colleagues are posting on social media to see the misinformation being spread.
For Cllr Cooper: No one is stupid enough to agree that ‘what a surprise a statue of a fat-arsed black woman’ is a ‘critique of public art’, except perhaps Reform councillors. A critique of public art might be something like ‘that statue of Ronaldo doesn’t look much like Ronaldo’. It was racist. It demonstrates underlying thoughts of racism. Cllr Mason needs to go.
Remembrance Day is not a political act of support for any one party. It is a day for us to honour the sacrifice of all those who have served our country in times of conflict and for any party to try to make political capital out of this is a disgrace.
Bored, people are entitled to their views and to offend, including elected councillors living a normal life. It’s called free speech, get over yourselves.