Reform apologises after sacking ‘inactive’ candidate who turned out to be dead

The Reform UK Party has said it is “mortified” after sacking an election candidate – who had died after being selected.

Officials dropped Tommy Cawkwell for being “inactive” when he failed to respond to phone calls and emails.

The right-wing party, founded by Nigel Farage as the Brexit Party, said it had dropped the York Central candidate, alongside about 50 others who had planned to stand at the next general election.

When Reform UK first sacked him, a spokesman said: “We need candidates who are active to give people the candidates they deserve”, adding: “We can’t afford to have people doing nothing in an election year.”

The reason given was that incorrect reports had emerged that his candidacy had been withdrawn for “inappropriate” social media messages.

In fact, Mr Cawkwell, who was a former RNLI volunteer, had died after being selected.

Party chiefs said they were “mortified” for not knowing he had died.

A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The simple fact is that we have removed upwards of 50 candidates for complete inactivity, and I know those who had been removed for disciplinary measures.

“Mr Cawkwell was clearly not one of those.

“Sadly I was unaware that he had died and I made an assumption based on the knowledge I possessed.

“I am mortified that my lack of care has caused his family pain, and I can only apologise profusely for my mistake.

“I do not know how to get hold of the family. If I did, I would apologise in person.”

The party has ditched seven candidates for the forthcoming election following complaints about their social media posts.

Leader Richard Tice has warned his candidates not to use social media after drinking alcohol, to avoid posting “inappropriate” comments.

The party has also drawn criticism over some of its other candidates, including a convicted animal abuser and a fortune-teller who sold spells for £200 online.

Mr Tice has previously said the party wanted to stand against every Conservative MP at the next election.

A poll six months ago suggested Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives were losing more of their 2019 voters to Reform UK than to Labour.

The Reform spokesman told The Mirror: “The process, if we have not heard from a candidate in a while, we try and get in touch, a number of phone calls and emails are made, then if no response a final email is sent suggesting that the candidate does not respond then they will be removed.

“Reform was not aware that Mr Cawkwell had passed away, as this happened in an interregnum between Yorkshire area managers. So with no response being made he was removed.”