Reform UK councillor shared Facebook post saying Labour MP ‘should be shot’

Trust Score

Mostly Verified

Confidence: Medium

Standard

Emotional Tone Low

How emotionally charged the language is (low is neutral)

Reading Level Academic

Suitable for age 21+ readers (grade 16)

Article Length Very long

2,326 words

Caps & Emphasis Moderate

2.7% of words are capitalised (high can indicate sensationalism)

Executive Summary

Assessment of the provided article text (a Guardian news report dated 24 February 2026) finds its core, high-priority factual claims are corroborated by independent/primary institutional sources where available (eg, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet announcement; UK Parliament election result record) and by an additional reputable secondary report (ITV) on the related Adam Mitula suspension. Several claims remain Unverified because they depend on non-public evidence (deleted social media posts; internal party investigations; Press Association quotes not directly accessible here) or because no primary documentation was located in the targeted research window. No claims are adjudicated False because the guardrails for False (primary or two reputable secondary sources with dates) were not met for any contradiction.

Factual Verification

Verified Claims

The Guardian published an article titled "Reform UK councillor shared Facebook post saying Labour MP ‘should be shot’" on 24 February 2026, authored by Hannah Al-Othman.
Lancashire County Councillor Simon Evans was appointed deputy leader and cabinet member for Children and Families in May 2025 (Lancashire County Council announcement).
Natalie Fleet was elected Labour MP for Bolsover at the 4 July 2024 UK general election (UK Parliament members site election result page).
Adam Mitula was described as an interim campaign manager figure in the Gorton and Denton by-election campaign and confirmed he had been suspended by Reform UK pending investigation (reported by ITV News, 24 February 2026).

Unverified Claims

Simon Evans shared (and later deleted) a Facebook post containing the text "You dozy cow, you should be shot" alongside an image of Natalie Fleet and a fake misattributed quote about voting against a grooming gang inquiry.
Evans’s apology explanation that he "did not notice the accompanying text" and that the violent text was created by an "unknown user" (as described in the article) accurately reflects what was posted on his Facebook account and the provenance of the post text.
Reform UK investigated the post, deemed it an "honest mistake", and decided not to take any action, accepting Evans’s account (beyond the Guardian’s reporting, no primary party statement was located in this research set).
Since entering Parliament, Fleet "successfully campaigned" for the government to remove parental responsibility from sex offenders where a child is born of rape (no primary legislative/government document was retrieved in the targeted research set to confirm the policy change and timing).
Fleet previously spoke in the House of Commons using the quotations attributed to her in the article regarding halving violence against women and girls and telling her story (no Hansard/Parliament transcript was retrieved in the targeted research set).
Mitula posted the specific alleged statements on X (including claims about Jewish women, Holocaust death toll exaggeration, and transgender people) as reported, and that he deleted his X account (the account/posts were not independently captured here; only secondary reporting was retrieved).
Mitula told the Press Association the quoted line that the comments were taken out of context and defended the Jewish community (Press Association original not directly accessed in this research set).

Bias & Presentation

Detected Biases:

Potential selection/spotlight bias: emphasis on Reform UK-linked misconduct incidents may amplify negative perceptions even where some facts depend on social media evidence not reproduced in full.
Framing bias risk: juxtaposing two separate negative stories (Evans Facebook share; Mitula suspension) can create an aggregated impression of broader party culture without explicitly proving systemic causation.

Language Patterns

Emotional manipulation: 0.18

Quality Assurance

Limitations: ['This assessment did not directly access Press Association copy or original social media posts (deleted/absent), limiting verification of quoted lines and specific alleged X/Facebook content.', 'Only targeted, high-priority web research was conducted; additional corroboration may exist (eg, Hansard, government press releases) but was not retrieved within the current search journal.']

Confidence

Level: Medium

Confidence is Medium because the principal narrative is plausible and partly corroborated by strong primary sources for roles/election status and by an additional reputable broadcaster for the Mitula suspension. However, several central details remain Unverified due to reliance on deleted social media content and unattributed-to-primary documentation (eg, missing Hansard/government documents and original Press Association copy).

Search Journal

Query: The Guardian "Reform UK councillor" shared Facebook post saying Labour MP "should be shot" Natalie Fleet Simon Evans deputy leader Lancashire council

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/24/reform-uk-councillor-shared-facebook-post-saying-labour-mp-should-be-shot

Confirmed article metadata and key attributed claims as presented by the publisher.

Query: Lancashire County Council Simon Evans deputy leader cabinet member children and families Reform UK

https://news.lancashire.gov.uk/news/new-leader-and-cabinet-announced

Primary confirmation of Evans’s cabinet role and deputy leader appointment (May 2025).

Query: UK Parliament Natalie Fleet MP Bolsover elected general election

https://members.parliament.uk/member/5053/electionresult

Primary confirmation of Fleet’s 2024 election result and constituency.

Query: Press Association Adam Mitula Reform Tameside interim campaign manager suspended Gorton and Denton byelection

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2026-02-24/reform-uk-gorton-by-election-campaign-activist-suspended-over-social-media-posts

Secondary corroboration of Mitula suspension pending investigation and description of reported posts.

Article Content

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Natalie Fleet said ‘posts like this are so common I don’t bat an eyelid’, but that her first thought was for the loved ones who had to see them. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

[View image in fullscreen](

Natalie Fleet said ‘posts like this are so common I don’t bat an eyelid’, but that her first thought was for the loved ones who had to see them. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

[Politics](

Reform UK councillor shared Facebook post saying Labour MP ‘should be shot’ ===========================================================================

Natalie Fleet MP says politicians should not expect ‘death threats as standard’, as Lancashire councillor apologises

[Hannah Al-Othman]( North of England correspondent

Tue 24 Feb 2026 12.12 EST First published on Tue 24 Feb 2026 10.37 EST

[Prefer the Guardian on Google](

A Labour MP has said politicians should not expect to face “death threats as standard” after a [Reform UK]( councillor shared a Facebook post which said she “should be shot”.

The picture of Natalie Fleet, who has spoken previously about [being groomed and raped as a teenager]( was accompanied by a fake quote misattributed to her, which read: “I voted against the grooming gang enquiry.”

The Facebook post was shared by Simon Evans, the deputy leader of [Lancashire]( council and cabinet member for children and families. He also reshared text accompanying the picture, which said: “You dozy cow, you should be shot.”

Fleet, who is MP for Bolsover in [Derbyshire]( said: “Posts like this are so common I don’t bat an eyelid. However, they remind me why my husband and children begged me not to stand.

“My first thought is always for the loved ones who have to see it, and any women who may be put off of getting into politics in the future.”

She added: “The last [Labour]( government helped me so much; I got into politics because I wanted to pay that forward and help others in my community. Whatever party, we should be able to fight for our areas without death threats as standard.”

Evans later deleted the post, saying in an apology on Facebook that he had made “a genuine mistake” and “did not notice the accompanying text”, and had removed the post “immediately” once it was brought to his attention.

“Yesterday, I shared a post featuring Natalie Fleet MP highlighting how she voted on the grooming gang inquiry. As many of you know, this is an issue close to my heart and something I have been campaigning on tirelessly even before I was elected,” Evans wrote.

“Unfortunately what I did not notice was the accompanying text of the Facebook post that was created by an unknown user. As soon as this was pointed out, I immediately deleted the post. I would never intentionally call for or wish violence upon anyone, regardless of their political beliefs. This sort of rhetoric has absolutely no place in our politics.”

He added: “I would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Fleet and anyone else for the offence caused. This was completely unintentional and was a genuine mistake that we can all make from time to time, especially on social media.”

A Reform spokesperson said: “After investigating the post, the party considers it an honest mistake and will not be taking any action. We accept Cllr Evans’ apology and version of events.”

Since entering parliament at the last general election, Fleet has successfully campaigned for the government to remove parental responsibility from sex offenders where a child is born of rape, a move she told parliament “will protect grooming victims”.

“I am proud to be part of a government who have set out an unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls, but what I want us to think about on this day is how we tell our story,” Fleet previously told the House of Commons.

“I have spoken publicly about giving birth after being the victim of statutory rape, and I am sick of being told I am brave. I do not want to be brave; I want it to be expected that we tell our truth.”

Meanwhile, Reform UK has suspended a campaign manager involved in the Gorton and Denton byelection after [reports he used racist and misogynist language on social media](

Adam Mitula, described by Reform Tameside as its interim campaign manager, who has since deleted his X account, confirmed he had been suspended by the party pending investigation, but claimed his social media remarks were “taken out of context”.

Mitula had reportedly written posts on X in which he said he would “never touch a Jewish woman” and claimed the Holocaust death toll had been exaggerated and that 60% to 70% of transgender people were paedophiles.

He told the Press Association: “The comments in question were taken out of context, and actually defended the Jewish community.”

Reform UK said it does not comment on its internal disciplinary processes.

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