Reform UK says it published candidates list early so media could help vet it

Reform UK published its candidates list early so that the media and other organisations could help vet them, the party’s leader, Richard Tice, has said.

The party has vowed to stand 600 candidates, one against every Conservative, in the next general election but has been forced to drop 10 candidates who were reported to have made racist, sexist and homophobic comments on social media.

Tice, when asked if he was confident Reform had robust processes in place to screen MP hopefuls, said the vetting process was “like an MOT”.

“It’s valid the day you do it, but if the following Friday night someone has a glass or two too much and puts something out on social media they permanently regret, in a sense it never stops,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference in Westminster, Tice said Reform was a “fast-growing party, but we haven’t got the resources the Labour party and the Tory party have, it’s a whole different ballgame”.

He said the party was increasing its scrutiny of candidates and looking at new technology but that Reform was the party that made “the fastest decisions when someone does or says or writes something completely inappropriate”.

He added: “One of the reasons we put our candidates list out so early ahead of many of the other parties is so we’re open to the scrutiny of various organisations and the media and in a sense that’s a good thing. They’re helping us with the vetting process.”

Five prospective parliamentary candidates – Amodio Amato, Jonathan Kay, Mick Greenhough, Pete Addis and Ian Harris – have been dropped over the last week because of social media posts.

The charity Hope Not Hate revealed messages by Kay, Greenhough and Harris. Kay, formerly the candidate for South Ribble, said Africans had IQs “among the lowest in the world” and Muslims “never coexist with others”.

Greenhough, who was the candidate for Orpington, said in 2019 that Ashkenazi Jews were a “problem” and had “caused the world massive misery”. Last year he said “the only solution” was to “remove the Muslims from our territory”.

Addis, the party’s former candidate in South Shropshire, described Angela Rayner as a “slag” and wrote: “Bum sex, this is where brown babies come from!” He also said of a Chinese slur: “There was nothing meant by it, it was because we had a lot of … Chinese food, when we were growing up. That wasn’t intended to be racist, it was something my mum tagged me in to.”

Amato, a former candidate in Stevenage, described London as an “Islamic State” and said there would be a “Muslim army run by Sadiq Khan”.

Benjamin “Beau” Dade was removed as the candidate for Swindon South after a Hope Not Hate investigation. Ginny Ball in Rutland and Stamford, Nick Davies in North East Bedfordshire, David Carpin in Henley and Thame, and Roger Hoe in Beverley and Holderness have all been sacked for comments made on social media.

Tice said: “Every party has their fair share frankly of muppets and morons. You’ve seen it with sexual weirdos in the Tory party, you’ve seen it with antisemitism in the Labour party and George Galloway’s party. So I say yes we’ll get rid of anybody with inappropriate behaviour, we’re not going to tolerate it.”

He said Reform was looking into “new AI software that can literally monitor people [candidates] live”.

In the press conference, titled “Labour’s betrayal of the working class”, Tice outlined the party’s intention to tackle NHS waiting lists within two years, paid for by scrapping plans to reach net zero by 2050, which he claimed would provide £30m a year.

Tice also said he would provide tax relief of 20% on independent and healthcare insurance to encourage people “who can afford to go private” to ease pressure on the NHS.