An adviser used by Nigel Farage and others in Reform UK to boost their social media popularity has suggested that Britain would be better off had it stayed neutral in the second world war instead of fighting Nazi Germany.
Jack Anderton, who ran Farage’s hugely successful TikTok account before helping Luke Campbell become the Reform mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, also said the UK should not support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
In a post on his personal blog about Britain’s international standing, Anderton said that in a future world of “meritocracy”, the UK could “regain” former colonies such as Australia, Canada and South Africa.
He added that the UK should copy the policy of mass incarceration carried out by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, widely condemned as an abuse of human rights.
Anderton has never been employed by Reform but the 23-year-old established Farage on TikTok, where he now has 1.3m followers, before working closely on Campbell’s election campaign.
He remains a central part of Campbell’s circle, and the mayor is known to have made efforts to get him on to his roster of staff, which have been thwarted because he cannot have political appointees.
Anderton’s personal blog, titled Britain Needs Change, includes an entry from last year about what he called “a self-interested British foreign policy”, arguing that the only conflict in the last century that was in the UK’s interest was the Falklands war.
“Trillions of pounds of British taxes have been spent in foreign lands in the pursuit of ‘democracy’, ‘human rights’ and ‘doing what is right’,” the post said. “More than a million British lives have been lost since WW1 in wars and battles that have never once been fought by British men, on this island.”
Fighting in both the world wars ensured the UK was no longer a great power, he wrote: “We impoverished ourselves for decades, we didn’t finish paying the loans off to America until 2006. Our economy stagnated, we lost an empire, and we are pushed around by America. And Germany, a country we beat, has been richer than us since the 1970s.
“Alternative history is interesting; if Britain had not fought in WW1 and WW2, it would not have had to rely on America for economic support, and it would have had the independence to act accordingly. Britain could have developed India, Cyprus, Fiji, Malta, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, the Bahamas, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand. In the coming meritocracy, perhaps Britain could regain some of these nations.”
The same post also argues against providing support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion: “We are sending billions of pounds (that we cannot afford) to prop up a country that we have no allegiance to. Russia is not our enemy, they have not attacked Britain.”
Anderton calls for a shake-up of the Foreign Office so that all decisions are made purely on the basis of whether or not they benefit Britain: “Instead, what we have are people who should be working for the UN or a charity rather than working in the British Foreign Office.”
In another post from 2024, on crime, Anderton enthusiastically endorses the policies of Nayib Bukele, who has dramatically cut gang violence and wider crime through mass detentions that have put 2% of El Salvador’s population in prison.
“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures,” he wrote. “I’d even argue the measures aren’t that extraordinary and should be in place in times of normalcy.
“El Salvador is perhaps a lesson for those in Britain who wish to take back control of their country. Power works, and it is all that matters. State power when used effectively is basically omnipotent. The meritocracy will be established, criminals and corrupt officials will be jailed, immigration will drop to zero, houses will be built, and our citizens will once again feel proud of the country they call home.”
Anderton was contacted for comment. Campbell’s office referred the matter to Reform UK, who said Anderton was not employed by either the party or the mayor.
