Reform UK has dropped a candidate on polling day after he meted out a tirade of abuse towards a rival over Facebook.
Simon Odell, who was Nigel Farage’s party’s hopeful for today’s Tower Hamlets by-election in Dover, even sent a picture of his middle finger.
Mr Odell unleashed his bizarre exchange after independent contender Travis Skelton shunned his offer to “collaborate” in a private message.
At the height of his outburst, the right-winger baselessly accused Mr Skelton of looking like a “f****** sniff (cocaine) dealer”.
Mr Odell also sent a picture of his middle finger and called his rival “useless”, who had reacted merely with a laughing emoji.
Reform confirmed it had dropped the candidate today after KentOnline presented screenshots of the exchange to its head office and Mr Farage.
The events unfolded when Mr Odell messaged Mr Skelton yesterday, politely introducing himself ahead of the by-election.
“Hi Travis, nice to meet you,” the message amicably began.
“I’m up against you in this election but that doesn’t mean we cannot collaborate if I’m lucky enough to win this.
“I get the impression you really do care about the issues, so I’d like to invite you, if I win of course, to meet up and help me understand the issues that are important to you and see if we can get them solved either way.
“Anyway, very best of luck with this election.”
Declining the offer, Mr Skelton explained he would rather work on solving community issues himself than have “anything to do with the Reform party”.
Mr Odell retorted claiming several people “called his party Nazis in town the other day” but is “at a loss to explain the hatred”.
The silence from Mr Skelton appeared to infuriate Mr Odell.
“I retract my best wishes for your victory and hope you never get anywhere near political office,” he wrote.
The independent candidate responded with a laughing emoji, which prompted a series of messages.
“Prejudge me all you like. I offered an olive branch and you batted it away so don’t expect me to have any respect for your attitude.”
“Jobseeker lives matter!” he went on.
“Allow me to return the favour… I saw your picture and I reckon you look like a f****** sniff dealer… got anything?
“Come on. You gotta [sic] have some yummy nose buscuits [sic] to trade.
“Oh what… did you think I’m a scum bag politician? Rofl [rolling on the floor laughing].
“I’ll take £20 of your finest Columbian beans plz [sic].
“Nothing? Man… alright how about a Henry [marijuana] can you manage that?
“Useless…”
KentOnline contacted Mr Odell for comment but he has not responded.
A Reform party spokesman said: “Simon is no longer the Reform UK candidate for this by-election.
“Reform UK expects and upholds the highest standards for our candidates and elected officials.”
Mr Skelton alerted Dover residents to the messages on a local Facebook group.
“I wasn’t going to post this. I don’t have time for petty nonsense, but there’s only so much abuse I’ll tolerate,” he wrote.
“What started as a message from Simon Odell, a Reform Party candidate, quickly spiralled into unprovoked insults, baseless accusations and outright harassment.
“I was open to debate, but due to work commitments, I couldn’t respond immediately.
“That alone was enough for him to lash out at me, resorting to name-calling and personal attacks.
“This is a man who claims to want to represent people.
“If this is how he handles a simple disagreement, or even just waiting for a response, imagine how he would handle real responsibility.
“I’ll let the screenshots speak for themselves. You can decide if this is the kind of leadership you want.”
Today’s by-election in Tower Hamlets was sparked by veteran Labour councillor Pam Brivio announcing her retirement.
Polls close at 10pm today and the candidates include: Jane Carrole (party not listed on the ballot), Jeffrey Flowers (Patriotic Dovorian), Christine Norman (Green Party), Simon Odell, Travis Skelton (independent) and Miriam Wood (independent).
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