Nathaniel Menday was suspended by Reform UK within days of winning a local election
04:00, 16 May 2026
Nathaniel Menday, left, has been suspended by Reform UK within a week of being elected as a councillor in Woodhouse, Sheffield(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell / YorkshireLive / Yui Mok / PA Wire)
Residents of a Yorkshire ward whose newly elected Reform UK councillor has already been suspended have had their say on whether they are disappointed by his behaviour.
Reform UK announced this week that Nathaniel Menday, the party’s victorious candidate in the Woodhouse local elections in Sheffield last week, had been suspended after the Sheffield Star revealed he had published pro-Nazi social media posts. His posts from a now-deleted X, formerly Twitter, account included a flag of a swastika, an SS uniform, and calling people in the UK “subhuman”.
Cllr Menday was elected as Woodhouse councillor this month with nearly 2,000 votes. But what do the people he now represents think about him?
One couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said his association with Nazi symbols and clothing is disappointing. “It does bother me and in a way,” they said. “We have got our own opinions, and I think that walking about with a swastika, that’s not okay. Why is there any need for that?”
They added: “I wish hadn’t had voted for him. That’s very disappointing.”
Howard is drinking in The George, an old-school local boozer in the heart of the village. He voted for Reform, and insists he still wants Nigel Farage’s party in power as “they’re the only party that’s going to do something”. But he admitted that it “doesn’t look good” that the party’s sole councillor in the ward has been suspended within days of being elected.
Another drinker in the pub, who did not want to be named, had a more straightforward approach. “He will just be an independent councillor for the next four years, won’t he?” he said. “I might not like it, but I want to vote Labour out, and I can’t do that, can I?” He added: “I am not disappointed to have voted for Reform. We all have idiots, don’t we?”
Many of the drinkers in The George voted for Reform(Image: Andrew Dowdeswell / YorkshireLive)
Andy Hizzard is a regular drinker at The George, the landlord said. Hizzard had expected to be Reform’s candidate for Woodhouse, but he was overlooked in the lead-up to the election. Cllr Menday was dropped in, not that many in the Woodhouse area know who he is.
One Reform member who campaigned extensively for the party and runs a local business said they have still not seen Cllr Menday in the area. They said they are “more disappointed in him than the party” and claimed Cllr Menday must not have declared all his social media, otherwise he would have failed Reform’s vetting process.
They said they were not surprised he was suspended and are “not happy” with some of the social media posts. Before the election, they were told Reform “had a great candidate” to replace Hizzard. They said: “You can come across as great and not be.”
Several residents have questioned whether they wasted their vote on Cllr Menday. But a Reform member claimed the strong election result shows Reform has a mandate in the area. “Those figures are still a vote for the party, and it gives a strong message that people want change,” they said. “I was surprised by how well Reform actually did.”
Cllr Menday was one of 12 newly elected Reform councillors in Sheffield. It gives the city 13 in total, joining John Booker, who won in Upper Don and Stocksbridge last year. Matt Smith was victorious in Park and Arbourthorne, and he has expressed doubts about the decision to select Cllr Menday.
Writing on social media, Cllr Smith said he has been “directly involved” in suspending Cllr Menday. He said Cllr Menday will now “face a full investigation, and it is my hope that this will also include the issue of how he was allowed to stand in the first place”.
He said most of the Reform UK members in Sheffield “have no personal connection to Cllr Menday”, adding: “I have only seen him a few times when undergoing mandatory formalities prior to the elections. In light of this, please rest assured that it remains an isolated incident, and we are all equally shocked and appalled by what has come to light.”
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Opposing parties, including the Sheffield Liberal Democrats and Labour Party, have called for Cllr Menday to be permanently suspended from the party.
The Reform UK Sheffield West branch said in a statement: “While we fully agree with the suspension of Councillor Nathaniel Menday, we will continue our policy of not commenting on this issue pending the ongoing investigation. In view of this, we wish to make clear that we do not endorse any statements published regarding this matter.”
Announcing the suspension, a Reform UK spokesman said: “Cllr Menday has been suspended from Reform UK pending investigation after he failed to declare social media posts which have brought the Party into disrepute. Reform UK does not support such comments.”
Cllr Menday has not responded to opportunities to comment by Yorkshire Live .
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