Reform UK is investigating allegations that one of their Westminster candidates said he “hates” the NHS and thinks nurses eat too much on social media.
James Bembridge is standing for one of three seats up for grabs in the West End ward at the May 7 Local Elections.
In November 2020, a post shared from an account allegedly linked to Mr Bembridge, said that it had a “visceral” hatred for the NHS.
The post reads: “The rancour that the pro-NHS folk have against me with never match the visceral hatred that I have for the NHS. I don’t want reform – I want to see it torn down to the ground.”
In March 2021, in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, another post from the same account shared comments that NHS nurses are “eating food banks out of business.”
“I’m not sure why applause is so readily given to NHS nurses who claim to be driven to using food banks when, looking at them, they are presumably eating them out of business,” reads the post.
On Monday, X account Reform Party UK Exposed shared further screenshots of posts, some of which are undated, allegedly by the same account linked to Mr Bembridge which also criticise the NHS.
The LDRS has not been able to find the original posts of those exact screenshots. However, earlier this week the account linked to Mr Bembridge reshared a post by Sean Walsh, who edits Country Squire magazine with Mr Bembridge, which refers to the screenshots.
Mr Walsh, in a reshare of the these, said: “The suggestion that @TheBembridge is a morally compromised bounder is untrue. He is far worse than that. He wouldn’t be my friend otherwise.”
Mr Bembridge is deputy editor of Country Squire, a magazine for “rural dwellers” which says it “provides a platform for voices from the overlooked Great British Countryside.”
In December 2025, the same account linked to Mr Bembridge also posted a picture on X which appears to mock bombing in Gaza. The post includes a picture of a box of Lego bricks labelled ‘Gaza’, with the caption: “My Christmas present,” alongside a love-heart eye emoji.
Reform UK has confirmed that it is looking into the allegations. Mr Bembridge has not yet responded to the LDRS request for comment.
At the June 2024 general elections, Reform UK pledged an extra £17 billion for the NHS. It said that the NHS needs a new funding model and that it must use the private sector to relived pressure on the over-stretched service.
