James Regan #

Introduction #

James Regan is a British local politician who was suspended from Reform UK pending investigation after social media posts he published during the protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping were flagged by The i Paper. Regan, who had been elected in May 2025, reportedly shared posts claiming asylum seekers were “paedophiles” and describing Islam as “evil”, and he said on camera, in a TikTok video he filmed outside the hotel: “Thanks to the British Government, we now have a third world paedophile babysitting centre in the middle of Epping.” The Independent reported the suspension on 30 August 2025, days after a Court of Appeal ruling that allowed the Home Office to keep the asylum hotel open, and a Reform UK spokesperson confirmed: “Councillor Regan has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation. We do not tolerate any forms of racism.” Left Foot Forward followed up on the story in early September 2025.

Background Information #

Regan was elected in May 2025. The i Paper’s reporting, as carried by Left Foot Forward, described him as a councillor on Ongar Town Council, while The Independent’s report described him as representing the Ongar ward on Epping Forest District Council; both accounts placed him as a newly elected Reform UK representative in the Epping area of Essex, and The Independent gave his age as 61. Little else about his life before politics appeared in the coverage of his suspension. What the reports did document was his regular presence at the protests outside the Bell Hotel, which had become the focal point of demonstrations against the accommodation of asylum seekers in the town. Those protests began on 13 July 2025, after Hadush Kebatu, a man living at the Bell Hotel, was charged with sexual assault, harassment, and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity — charges Kebatu denied. According to Left Foot Forward, the demonstrations were organised through Epping Says No, a Facebook group managed by three members of the far-right Homeland Party. Regan filmed TikTok videos at the protests, and it was this footage and his accompanying social media activity that formed the basis of the allegations against him.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

The controversy centred on Regan’s own posts and videos from the Bell Hotel protests. According to The i Paper, he shared posts on X claiming asylum seekers were “paedophiles”, described Islam as “an evil criminal cartel of evil pedo’s [sic]”, and stated that “Islam will suck our benefit system dry”. When he joined demonstrators outside the hotel, he called it a “paedophile babysitting centre”; in the TikTok video he filmed outside the venue, he said: “Thanks to the British Government, we now have a third world paedophile babysitting centre in the middle of Epping.” The Independent reported that Regan was also filmed through the doors of the hotel as protesters behind him shouted “Where’s your documents” and “Identify yourself” at people of colour who appeared to be hotel employees. In another post, he claimed that police had escorted “an aggressive counter group” directly towards the Bell Hotel protesters because the police “actually want trouble” — an accusation Essex Police refuted. Nigel Farage, who similarly claimed the police had bussed in counter-protesters, was later forced to apologise after receiving a call from a police officer telling him he was wrong.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Reform UK’s response was a suspension. A party spokesperson said: “Councillor Regan has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation. We do not tolerate any forms of racism.” The suspension was reported by The Independent on 30 August 2025, amid what the report described as mounting concern over comments that could exacerbate tensions following the Court of Appeal ruling on the hotel; The Independent noted it had been unable to contact Regan for comment. His own side had shown signs of unease before the party acted: footage published online showed another Epping Forest Reform councillor, Jaymey McIvor, warning Regan about his language on one of the protest videos. Left Foot Forward, for its part, framed the story as another loss for a party that had already seen councillors suspended over their social media activity that year, noting too that the Bell Hotel protests had seen outbreaks of violence even before the court ruling.

Current Status #

As of the September 2025 coverage, Regan remained suspended from Reform UK pending investigation, with neither report recording any published findings from the party’s inquiry. The Independent stated that it had been unable to contact him for comment, and no public response from Regan to the allegations was reported. The posts at the centre of the case remain attributed claims as far as the reports state — although the “third world paedophile babysitting centre” remark was not an attributed post but a statement he made himself, on camera, in his own TikTok video outside the Bell Hotel. Neither report recorded his resignation from the council or any further disciplinary outcome.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The suspension ended Regan’s membership of Reform UK’s councillor group within months of his May 2025 election, after his own party chose suspension over defending the language he had used about asylum seekers, Muslims, and the police. For a first-term councillor, the episode meant that his public profile became defined less by his work on the council than by his TikTok output from the Bell Hotel protests — footage that was reported nationally by The Independent and The i Paper and that included remarks his party described as racism it would not tolerate. The case also added to the accumulating record of Reform UK suspensions over councillors’ online conduct, a pattern Left Foot Forward explicitly flagged in covering his case. As of the last reporting, Regan retained his elected position while suspended from the party, and the outcome of Reform UK’s investigation had not been made public.