Vile conspiracy News theories of REFORM candidate. 'The Hallocaust [sic] is a hoax' 'Schools are no longer safe... if you are stupid send your kids to school' 'Ultimate proof: 9/11 is not what we thought it was''.
Byline: LIAM THORP, PATRICK EDRICH & BEN HASLAMA MAN standing for Reform UK in next month's local elections called the Holocaust a "hoax" and "propaganda".
Jay Leslie Cooper, 29, is standing for the right-wing party as a candidate for Bootle West in Sefton Council's elections on May 7.
However, the ECHO found social media activity from Cooper that includes evidence of Holocaust denial. In September last year Cooper reposted an article on Facebook about the fatal shooting of American political commentator Charlie Kirk with the accompanying headline: "Heartbreaking. Murdered for having an opinion."
In response to a comment by another person, which asked: "Hitler had an (opinion) too; did he deserve to die?", Cooper said: "I don't agree with him murdering innocent people. But the Hallocaust (sic) is a hoax. There wasn't (sic) even 6 million Jews in Europe at the time. Propaganda."
On Friday the ECHO attempted to contact Cooper at his home and at a business address linked to him to ask him about his views, but there was no answer. We also approached Cooper via his Facebook account and by a phone number associated with him but received no response.
The ECHO approached Reform UK and asked how someone with Cooper's publicly available opinions had passed the party's vetting process to become a candidate.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: "The party is looking into the allegations."
A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The idea that Nigel Farage thinks that candidates like this pushing shocking conspiracy theories are suitable is alarming.
"It's an insult to the people of Sefton that Farage and Reform put people like this forward to stand in the first place and a total dereliction of duty that he hasn't condemned them nor pulled his support from them. These extreme council candidates pose a real risk to communities like Sefton, and it's only Labour that can stop them."
Analysis of Cooper's social media showed a web of conspiracy theories about the 9/11 terrorist attack and Titan submersible implosion, as well as claims about the Labour government's supposed role in the Southport attack, and associating the Green Party with mental health patients.
In February this year he shared a polling map which showed Merseyside intended to vote Labour.
Cooper shamefully posted: "How are people in the (sic) right mind still thinking it's acceptable to vote for Labour? The three young girls in Southport slaughtered by the hands of Labour should have been the turning point."
In March this year Cooper shared a post from the controversial Around Liverpool page showing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a hijab with the accompanying words: "Labour have given up winning elections with policies. They focus on demographics instead.
"They import voters because the public hate their policies. Import the third world and bribe them with taxpayer benefits. Terror comes with it and they don't care."
On the same day he shared a hoax email circulated around Merseyside regarding worrying claims that someone would go into unnamed schools to attack children.
Cooper posted: "Blame the Labour government, go and take your kids from schools. Keep them off. Someone messaged to tell me it's a hoax. I am not stupid, of course it is a hoax, but it gives people ideas. The schools are no longer safe...if you are stupid, send your kids to school."
In January 2024 Cooper re-shared a video called: "Ultimate proof. 9/11 is not what we thought it was." The video claims only three 9/11 videos were shown live on American media and none of them showed the planes hitting the tower. The video does not appear to factor in the footage captured by onlookers.
Another video from April of the previous year was called "Thermite truth" about temperature hotspots at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. The thermite conspiracy theory claims that a highenergy explosive Reform are was used to demol- Tory re-treads ish the towers, not genuinely alleging an inside about our job. The US National Institute communities. of Standards and know exactly Technology exam- right-wing ined and rejected does in the theory. And reposting a - we are still Unilad article in its effects June 2023 about Liverpool City the final move- Steve Rotheram ments of the Titan submersible, which imploded resulting in the deaths of five people, Cooper said: "Wonder what they are trying to distract us from now," followed by two sleeping emojis. Cooper has also publicly expressed support for the controversial policy of privatising the NHS.
Reform UK has previously said it will not privatise the NHS despite claims by Labour.
Cooper has also posted with apparent disdain about the area he hopes to represent. In January 2023 he reposted a picture of Shamima Begum, who joined the Islamic State as a teenager, with the headline: "Shamima Begum announces that she's staying in Syria after being offered a flat in Bootle."
Last month Cooper gang of also re-shared a video who do of a man alleged to have carried out a care knife attack in Edinburgh posted by the We Scottish S*n. The S*n what is largely boycotted politics on Merseyside because of its disnorth west graceful coverage of feeling the Hillsborough disaster.
Liverpool City Region Mayor region's mayor Steve Rotheram told the ECHO: "There aren't many people that would vote for a Thatcherite party in our area - and Reform are primarily a bunch of Thatcher's offspring.
Phoney Farage likes to turn up in places like ours pretending he understands working people - but scratch the surface and it's the same old politics of division, this time in a turquoise rosette.
"Reform are a gang of Tory retreads who do not genuinely care about our communities.
"We know exactly what right-wing politics does in the north west - we lived through it and are still feeling its effects. Jobs disappeared, public services were cut to the bone, and whole communities were written off by Tory politicians in Westminster who didn't care about the pain they were causing.
"Labour is focused on rebuilding communities - not exploiting people's fears for short-term political gain. Our region doesn't need division - or Reform snake oil salesmen selling false promises."
| The full list of candidates standing in Sefton Council's Bootle West ward: Lynne Margaret Bold (Conservative), Jim Conalty (Labour), Jay Leslie Cooper (Reform), Jordan Raymond Cox (Green), Mhairi Doyle (Labour), Kristina Elizabeth Dwyer (Reform), Lorelei Dyson (Green Party), Dan McKee (Labour), Andrew Thompson (Reform), Charlotte Elizabeth Weaver (Green), Liam Williams (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition), Lucy Woods (Liberal Democrats).
Reform are a gang of Tory re-treads who do not genuinely care about our communities. We know exactly what right-wing politics does in the north west - we are still feeling its effects Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram
CAPTION(S):
Jay Leslie Cooper, who is standing for Reform UK as a candidate for Bootle West in Sefton Council's May elections
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| Author: | LIAM THORP, PATRICK EDRICH & BEN HASLAM |
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| Publication: | Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England) |
| Geographic Code: | 4EUUK |
| Date: | Apr 25, 2026 |
| Words: | 1139 |
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