Labour bid to force out Reform mayor

The Mayor of Redditch is facing a battle to stay in office, after Labour councillors submitted a "no confidence" motion in her.

Reform Councillor Sue Eacock has come under fire for a series of historical social media posts showing her criticising black, Asian and LGBT communities.

Now the opposition Labour group at Redditch Borough Council has made a formal attempt to have her replaced, saying the remarks "validate division and hate in our community".

Neither Eacock nor Reform UK have responded to requests for comment.

The motion is set to be voted on during the next full council meeting on 29 June.

Councillor Sharon Harvey, Labour group leader, said: "The mayor is a civic leader - she represents everyone in the borough.

"The Labour group believe that by holding racist and discriminatory views, she cannot fulfil that role.

"Furthermore she has shown no remorse for her actions.

"The views expressed by Councillor Eacock are validating division and hate in our community - this isn't the purpose of a mayor."

Eacock has yet to comment on her historic social media posts, and deleted her X account after being approached by the BBC.

In one post, she said "I'm not bothered about colour" but told her followers "we are a Christian country, therefore the next Prime Minister should not be Muslim".

She responded to a video of purely Asian people in a street by stating it was "heartbreaking to see our once beautiful capital, London, falling," and in response to a photo of Angela Rayner sitting in a room with Asian men, she wrote "she won't last long with that lot, they hate women".

Among the string of offensive posts was one where she praised an old picture of Liverpool Central railway station from the 1960s, describing the people as "beautiful, fashion conscious, slim and white".

Eacock's posts also took aim at the LGBT community, including one where she said people's lives were being made worse by "gay parades walking around semi-naked in front of children".

The posts were published between 2022 and 2025 on X, where she had more than 40,000 followers before the account was closed.

She became the mayor in Redditch last month, with the offensive messages pre-dating her time as a councillor.

The council is now in Conservative control, with a minority administration that was voted through with Reform support following the local elections, dumping Labour from power.

A spokesperson for the borough council said they were unable to comment on notices of motion.

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