Reform are having an absolute nightmare in the runup to the local elections. As we’ve reported, they’ve been losing candidates left and right. If you think this means the party’s vetting procedures aren’t up to snuff, don’t worry. According to Farage himself, the problem is many of the eager Reform members signing up are actually just liars.
Farage defends Reform’s vetting failures after ‘abhorrent’ incidentshttps://t.co/8uAu2Azx0V
— Reform Party UK Exposed
(@reformexposed) April 1, 2026
Farage — Liars, liars
We’ve covered the many woes that Reform have had in the runup to the local elections, with key calamities including:
- Reform candidate sparks mass resignations in the party.
- Day One Reform activist accuses party of ‘sewer’ politics in explosive resignation letter.
- Farage heckled at Reform’s Jimmy Saville-aping London launch.
- Video emerges of Reform’s ‘Nazi salute’ candidate drink driving.
- Reform’s chaotic collapse continues: Scottish candidate suspended over ‘financial conduct’.
As reported by the Independent, Farage defended Reform UK’s vetting process by saying:
sometimes people lie
That’s true, Nigel, yes; this is what you’re supposed to uncover by vetting them.
The Independent also reported:
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, also defended the process, stating that out of 8,000 candidates vetted, even a 99.9 per cent success rate means a handful of problematic individuals might still slip through.
If Reform had enjoyed a 99.9% success rate, they would have only had eight problem candidates. The truth is they’ve already had that many between Wales and Scotland alone, and we’re still a month out from the election:
Reform UK Wales only announced their candidate list 3 days ago and already 3 have quit or been suspended:
Andrew Barry
Corey Edwards
Patrick Benham-CrosswellIt’s 6 out of a friend of 73 in Scotland.#ReformShitshow
— Reform Party UK Exposed
Reform UK Scotland have seen 5 of their 73 candidates suspended or stood down.
That’s nearly 7% of all of them. #ReformScotlandShitshow pic.twitter.com/0FWLJLxafH
— Reform Party UK Exposed
All eyes on
When Yusuf was pressed on the number of candidates dropping out by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Yusuf said:
Yes, of course it’s reasonable to hold Reform to account.
But what consistently happens is the BBC pounces on every single Reform mishap and gives it vastly disproportionate coverage in your news cycles – and completely ignores the far most voluminous misdemeanours and frankly egregious things from other parties do.
This is the problem Reform have.
They want to be the biggest party in the country, but they don’t want the inevitable scrutiny that comes with it.
And as Kuenssberg pointed out:
proportionally, Reform has lost more candidates over this kind of thing happening than other political parties
Farage’s response to his party’s candidate crisis is to brand signups ‘liars’.
We can’t imagine that going down well with the Reform faithful, but we’ll see.
Featured image via Canva
By Willem Moore
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