Reform UK Mayor Luke Campbell Under Police Investigation Over Allegation of Showing Nude Photos of Himself; He Denies the Claim

Reform UK mayor Luke Campbell in the United Kingdom is facing a police investigation over an allegation that he showed 'nude and sexual' photos of himself to a female colleague. Campbell, mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire and a former Olympic boxing champion, is reported to have been questioned under caution by Humberside Police earlier this month.

After the news was first published on Sunday, it emerged that Campbell allegedly showed a senior female colleague four fully nude and sexual photos of himself last May. The woman said she felt 'shocked, embarrassed and humiliated' and claimed she was forced to leave her job shortly after the incident.

These claims emerged in documents submitted in the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority's internal complaints process. Campbell was elected mayor last May. He did not respond to a request for comment and reportedly has not been arrested in connection with the alleged incident.

A Reform UK spokesperson said Luke Campbell has 'strongly denied' the allegations. According to the party, the allegations came from a disgruntled employee who is trying to extract a settlement in a baseless workplace dispute.

On the other hand, former Conservative minister and now Reform UK member Nadine Dorries spoke in Campbell's defense on Sunday. She claimed the photo described as 'sexual' is actually a 2013 magazine cover, in which the former boxer posed nude from the waist up after winning gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

However, the report noted that this explanation does not match the witness accounts submitted in the Combined Authority's complaints process. In one document, a senior female colleague said Campbell called her over to a computer screen, where 'several nude and sexual photos' of the mayor were shown.

Another witness said that in one photo she saw a naked man with tattoos, whereas no tattoos are visible on the magazine cover. The main complainant said in her witness account that at the workplace she was deliberately shown the mayor's nude and sexual photos without consent, and that when she clearly became embarrassed, she was laughed at.

In the complainant's words, this was unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, which violated her dignity and created a humiliating, degrading and hostile working environment. This statement has become the core basis of the complaints process.

According to the allegation, about three weeks after the incident the female officer was told on a Teams call that the offer of a permanent position, which she had accepted, had been withdrawn. She was then working as a contractor, but had accepted the offer of a permanent role.

In another document, a second colleague said she felt 'uncomfortable' after Campbell and two male colleagues called a female officer over to a laptop; the laptop had a photo of a naked man with tattoos. The employee also recalled hearing comments about Campbell's tattoos and the mayor lifting his shirt to show the tattoos.

A spokesperson for the Combined Authority confirmed that a police investigation is ongoing. He said that, like all public authorities, the Combined Authority has a standards process for dealing with complaints against members and a complaints procedure for complaints against officers, and both must be conducted fairly and independently. Humberside Police has been asked for comment.

The allegations against Campbell have surfaced at a time when a year-long television investigation has brought to light racist comments by several Reform UK councilors and a prospective member of parliament. Nigel Farage's party said investigations have been launched in the cases of staff or members who have clearly behaved inappropriately and that there is no place for racism in the party. Campbell's future now depends on the outcome of the police investigation and the internal process.