Stephen Mousdell #

Introduction #

Stephen Mousdell is a British Reform UK politician who won the Haydock ward on St Helens Council in the local elections of 8 May 2026, and who resigned from the council less than a week later, on 15 May 2026, after it emerged that he had appeared in gay adult films, including content published on OnlyFans under the name Lachlan Taylor. He resigned over what he described as the “immense pressure” that followed the revelations while refusing to apologise for work he insisted was lawful and his own.

Background Information #

Mousdell, a man in his 30s, stood for Reform UK in the Haydock ward of St Helens Council in the May 2026 local elections, which the party contested across England after its breakthrough year, and won the seat. Reform UK took control of St Helens Council in that vote, coming close to completely wiping out Labour on the authority. Alongside his political activity, Mousdell had worked as an adult film performer and OnlyFans creator, posting under the name Lachlan Taylor, a fact that was not widely known when he was selected and elected.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Within days of his election, reports emerged in the Liverpool Echo and other outlets that the newly elected councillor had appeared in adult films, and the story spread rapidly across national media. The BBC reported that Mousdell said he had not been in the “right mental state” after his pornographic work came to light, and that he had been told to “apologise” and stop the work to remain a councillor — an ultimatum he refused because he had “done no wrongdoing”. “There is no shame of it and I am proud to be a gay individual in this community,” he said in his resignation statement, adding that he had complied with social media policies and the UK Online Safety Act in his postings on social media and on the subscription site, and framing his resignation as the alternative to abandoning work he considered lawful and his own. PinkNews noted that Reform UK defended him even as he stepped down, saying “He has not broken the law,” a striking position for a party that had suspended other new councillors over their posts.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The consequences were immediate and terminal for his council career: Mousdell resigned as councillor for Haydock on 15 May 2026, one week to the day after the poll that put him in office. He was, by a matter of hours, one of the shortest-serving councillors St Helens had seated, and his exit — framed by his party as a “media witch hunt” rather than any misconduct — denied Labour the drama of a removal while handing it the argument anyway. The BBC reported that there was no suggestion he had broken any laws, and the coverage framed his departure as the product of media pressure rather than any misconduct finding. Reform UK’s official response was unusually protective, saying: “It is a sad state of affairs that a media witch hunt has hounded an elected official out of office because of his private life.” The case drew international attention, with outlets in the UK and beyond covering the juxtaposition of the party’s social conservatism and its defence of an outgoing porn-performer councillor. He became one of several Reform councillors to lose or leave their positions within days of the May 2026 elections, a stretch that put the party’s candidate vetting under sustained scrutiny.

Current Status #

Mousdell is no longer a councillor, having resigned his Haydock seat on 15 May 2026, days after taking it. He declined to apologise for or discontinue his adult work, saying he had done no wrongdoing, and framed his departure as the price of refusing to be shamed. No criminal or regulatory issue has been reported in connection with his adult content, and neither Reform UK nor the council has alleged any breach of rules. No return to elected politics has been announced.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The episode ended Mousdell’s council career almost before it began and made his adult-work persona, Lachlan Taylor, nationally known, the very outcome he had refused to renounce. His resignation put a sub-seven-day tenure on the record in a council Reform had just won control of, and handed the party an early embarrassment of its new term. It also contributed to the run of post-election scandals — suspensions over racist posts, a Holocaust-denial councillor and others — that dominated coverage of the party’s first weeks in power across England, feeding a national debate about how thoroughly Reform vets the candidates it fields.