Council Code of Conduct used to try and silence Reform councillor and FSU member Steve Horner

Max Thompson, Campaigns Officer

22 April 2026

Steve Horner is a Reform UK councillor on Teignbridge District Council in Devon and stood as a parliamentary candidate in the 2024 general election. After growing increasingly concerned about how public bodies might respond to his political activity — and what that could mean for his right to free speech — he joined the Free Speech Union.

Steve initially joined the FSU to access our content, but soon found himself in need of our support. As a district councillor, Steve raised concerns on Facebook about the covert placement of Afghan migrants in his area, citing the costs to local residents and the fact that the public had not voted for this. A complaint followed, alleging that he had breached the council’s code of conduct. With the support of the Free Speech Union, Steve submitted a response, and the monitoring officer ultimately dismissed the complaint. A number of similar complaints were also subsequently dismissed.

Later, a more serious and seemingly professionally framed complaint was sent to the Council after Steve raised concerns about potential discrimination by the Arts Council. With FSU support once again, the complaint against him was dropped.

But it didn’t end there. Steve was later targeted by a political opponent in the district council who, in a publication, inferred he was a racist. This was immediately challenged within the confines of the Council and petered out. He now has the FSU on speed dial.

We are pleased to have been able to support Steve. At the Free Speech Union, we are increasingly seeing codes of conduct being weaponised to silence those who do not subscribe to prevailing orthodoxies. Viewers will have seen a similar story with the case of Independent Councillor Dulcie Tudor, who faced nine complaints and an external investigation for her gender-critical social media posts. This is a growing problem across the UK and poses a serious threat to freedom of speech and our democracy.

Watch Cllr Steve Horner’s FSU Member Testimonial on our YouTube channel.