STORY
A Reform UK councillor in Kirklees has come under scrutiny after campaign group Hope Not Hate published details of historic social media posts in which he allegedly called for the then Speaker of the House of Commons to be hanged and made comments about gay people having children.
David Rowan, who is listed by Kirklees Council as Dave Rowan, represents the Colne Valley West ward for Reform UK. He was elected in May 2026 as part of a major advance for the party in Kirklees, where Reform won 29 seats and became the largest group on the council.
Hope Not Hate reported that in October 2019 Rowan responded to a social media post about then Commons Speaker John Bercow by writing: “Hang the Dwarf”. The campaign group described the comment as a call for Bercow to be hanged. Bercow served as Speaker of the House of Commons until October 2019.
The organisation also reported another comment attributed to Rowan in which he said he did not believe “gays should have kids full stop”. The remarks were among a series of historic posts highlighted by Hope Not Hate following Rowan’s election to Kirklees Council.
Hope Not Hate also highlighted a July 2019 post in which Rowan expressed support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, writing: “Thommy [sic] Robinson I salute you for caring”.
The campaign group said it had approached Reform UK to ask whether the party intended to take action against Rowan but had received no response at the time its article was published.