Reform Senedd worker's social media featured dozens of racist and anti-Muslim posts
Derek Roberts, a former Reform Senedd candidate, has been hired as a special adviser despite his social media account containing numerous racist and anti-Muslim posts. Concerns about his online behavior led to his resignation from the candidate list, but he has since been employed by fellow Reform politician Gaz Thomas. The situation raises questions about the party's vetting processes and handling of such issues.
- ▪Derek Roberts' social media featured dozens of racist and anti-Muslim messages.
- ▪He resigned as a Reform candidate after concerns were raised about his Facebook account.
- ▪Roberts has been hired as a special adviser by Gaz Thomas, who replaced him as a candidate.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2e2ld0341do?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:02:45 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-06-03T16:10:11.555Z |
| Last seen | 2026-06-03T16:10:11.555Z |
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| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | 1d14jCXRZiQU |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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Reform Senedd worker's social media featured dozens of racist and anti-Muslim posts7 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleDavid DeansWales political reporterBBCDerek Roberts was number two on the list in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg, and now works as a special adviserA man whose social media account featured dozens of racist and anti-Muslim messages is now being employed by a Reform Senedd politician as a special adviser.Derek Roberts, who quit as a Reform candidate for this year's Senedd election after concerns were raised within the party about his Facebook account, is now working for Reform's Gaz Thomas.In one post on his account seen by BBC Wales a racial slur is used to describe people from Pakistan, while another openly supports far-right activist Tommy Robinson.The posts from…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at BBC News — UK.