Mike Manning #

Introduction #

Mike Manning is a former Royal Artillery serviceman and IT worker who was Reform UK’s chosen candidate for the 19 February 2026 by-election in the Zetland ward of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council — until the party withdrew its support on 29 January 2026 over posts from an X account in his name that were accused of being “racist, antisemitic, xenophobic.” Manning apologised “profusely” for what he called “the unfortunate tweets I made” and resigned from the party, but he stayed on the ballot paper, because electoral law meant the papers effectively could not be changed after publication. His case became a double case study: a vetting process that missed an account the party said he had never declared, and an electoral system that kept a disowned candidate’s name in front of voters regardless.

Background Information #

Manning was introduced as Reform UK’s candidate for Zetland by the party’s Redcar branch, which announced that it was proud to put forward the former Royal Artillery serviceman, who has also worked in IT. His election agent was listed as Andrea Turner. His now-deleted profile on X, formerly Twitter, @UKVoxPop, described him as one of six kids from a council house in Liverpool and ex-Army.

The seat had fallen vacant after Jonny Neal, a former Labour councillor who had become an independent, resigned from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, with polling due on 19 February. Reform UK was hoping to win its second seat on the authority, after former Tory Craig Holmes took the Skelton East ward the previous year.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

The story broke when posts from an X account in the name of Mike Manning were circulated in late January 2026. The account mocked Kwanzaa, the cultural festival celebrated in the US by some African Americans; a reply to one user read: “Are you having the traditional stuffed chimpanzee for Kwanzaa dinner?” The account also referred to “brown people” and to “Londonistan”, and said its author could not wait for a proposed remake of the classic comedy Last of the Summer Wine to include an episode where “Nora Bin Batty gets stoned to death”.

The posts were attributed to the account by reporters rather than independently authenticated, and the profile was deleted after they came to light; Manning, for his part, apologised for “the unfortunate tweets I made,” an acknowledgment that he was behind them, while the account itself was never publicly verified in full. Liberal Democrat councillor Jemma Joy said some of the highlighted content had been uploaded as recently as November and December 2025. Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley referred to “grim remarks” attributed to the account, saying they also included antisemitic and misogynistic barbs.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Both opposition parties moved first, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats calling for Manning’s suspension before Reform acted. Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said his posts — on a now-deleted account — had contained “sickening insults at Jewish and Muslim communities”. Turley wrote directly to Reform leader Nigel Farage demanding “urgent action”, saying: “Zetland and Redcar are proud, welcoming communities. Racism and hate have no place here, and anyone standing for public office must be held to the highest standards,” and criticising a “deluge of Reform politicians spouting vile racism and bigotry”. Cllr Joy said she had demanded that Reform UK “immediately withdraw your candidate from the ballot in Zetland ward,” adding: “Serious concerns have been raised about your candidate’s past social media posts, which include racist and offensive remarks. These views are completely unacceptable in public life.”

Reform UK then withdrew its support. A party spokesperson said it found the comments “unacceptable”, adding: “It is clear Mike Manning did not declare his X account to the party during the vetting process.” The Redcar branch said his application had been subject to vetting requirements and that “Neither the branch or Reform UK were aware of the posts until they came to light this week,” before agreeing the party should withdraw its support: “As a branch we will continue our work within the Redcar constituency to ensure our core message of delivering for family, community and country is heard.” Local Reform sources said campaigning had been suspended, after Manning had been pictured canvassing with party volunteers.

Manning’s own response came in a Facebook post on the Thursday evening: “In light of the unfortunate tweets I made, for which I profusely apologise, I have now resigned from the Reform party. If I could, I would withdraw my name from the ballot.”

Current Status #

As of the reporting, Manning had resigned from Reform UK but remained a named candidate on the ballot for the 19 February poll. The council said the deadline for a candidate to remove themselves had passed when nominations closed on 23 January, and that “At this point, the returning officer has no legal power to amend ballot papers or alter the details of any candidate who was validly nominated by this deadline.” It stressed that this applied “even if a political party withdraws its support for a candidate or suspends them after nominations have closed,” and that the ballot would show names and party descriptions exactly as submitted — meaning “If any such candidate is elected, their election will be valid, and they will become a councillor of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.” Their party membership, the council added, was a matter for the candidate and the party. It had not been possible to contact Manning directly for comment.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Within roughly a week of his selection being publicised, Manning lost his party’s backing, his party membership, and his campaign — while remaining on the ballot paper under the Reform UK description he could no longer campaign for, and with no legal route to remove his own name. Whatever the result on 19 February, his political career as a Reform candidate was over within days of the posts surfacing. His case also fed a wider scrutiny debate: opposition figures used it to question Reform UK’s candidate vetting, and the party’s admission that Manning had not declared his X account became the story’s enduring detail — a reminder that in the social media audit era, an undeleted account history can surface after nominations close, when the ballot can no longer be changed.