Reform UK discussion

[Railwaycat]

Reform UK to introduce less stringent ‘common sense’ vetting system for candidates

Exclusive: Party says those who previously failed vetting are ‘strongly encouraged’ to reapply under new criteria

www.theguardian.com

They had a candidate that was disqualified because he worked for the council he wished to seek election to - which was apparently only discovered after he had won, thus forcing a by election. If that is the standard of vetting at present, I genuinely don’t know how they can go even lower.

"There's a hole in the fence, some of the chickens have got out"

"Better make it bigger then"

Unbelievable. Fortunately.

 

[greatkingrat]

They had a candidate that was disqualified because he worked for the council he wished to seek election to - which was apparently only discovered after he had won, thus forcing a by election. If that is the standard of vetting at present, I genuinely don’t know how they can go even lower.

This is not unique to Reform. Councillors of all parties have been caught by this rule in the past. Usually the issue is not with people directly employed by the council, but people who work for the council indirectly (under various outsourcing arrangements) who don't realise the rule covers them.

 

[styles]

This is not unique to Reform. Councillors of all parties have been caught by this rule in the past. Usually the issue is not with people directly employed by the council, but people who work for the council indirectly (under various outsourcing arrangements) who don't realise the rule covers them.

This is it.

While I'm far from a Reform supporter, the reason these stories are in the news is because Reform won a ton of seats in a single set of elections, combined with the fact that they're a new party so their processes haven't been developed over decades like the other mainstream parties.

I helped campaign for a councillor in a different, large, political party who never expected to win. When she did win, she realised quite quickly she couldn't fulfill her councillor duties while also finishing her PhD, so she stood down. It didn't make national news because these things happen all the time through the year.

All for criticising Reform, but I posted many comments back on this post about examples of Labour and Tory councillors resigning or losing their seats or having the whip removed due to similar issues some Reform councillors are facing. I think it's an overall lazy criticism of Reform, especially when there's so many better reasons to criticise them.

 

[sor]

I helped campaign for a councillor in a different, large, political party who never expected to win. When she did win, she realised quite quickly she couldn't fulfill her councillor duties while also finishing her PhD, so she stood down. It didn't make national news because these things happen all the time through the year.

That's a different scenario. It's fair enough that some people will win and realise it's not for them, or there was a change of circumstances between nominations closing and election day, but I would argue that current employment status is among the first questions you'd ask of a candidate during a vetting process. It has happened more than once, with both this council employee and the active member of the RAF.

You don't need experienced and battle-hardened party infrastructure for that.

Reform thrive on their disproportionate level of media coverage, so can hardly complain when that works the other way

 

[styles]

That's a different scenario. It's fair enough that some people will win and realise it's not for them, or there was a change of circumstances between nominations closing and election day, but I would argue that current employment status is among the first questions you'd ask of a candidate during a vetting process. Whether it is this council employee or the active member of the RAF.

You don't need experienced and battle-hardened party infrastructure for that.

Reform thrive on their disproportionate level of media coverage, so can hardly complain when that works the other way

I was only giving one example. I can provide examples of Labour or Tory councillors abusing COVID loans, being caught out by elections rules, or having spats with their national party policy if you want? It happens every week.

 

[DarloRich]

While I'm far from a Reform supporter, the reason these stories are in the news is because Reform won a ton of seats in a single set of elections, combined with the fact that they're a new party so their processes haven't been developed over decades like the other mainstream parties.

It is an open goal for the media. Reform haven't vetted properly/at all. Hell, most of the time they haven't even had a cursory glance at thier candidates social media!

 

[styles]

It is an open goal for the media. Reform haven't vetted properly/at all. Hell, most of the time they haven't even had a cursory glance at thier candidates social media!

This is no different to other parties though, e.g. SNP's Mhairi had to explain her past tweets.

Or this Labour councillor being suspended over Tweets he made 13 years before: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp827j77362o

That it becomes so viral when it's Reform is odd given the other parties deal with this all the time.

There's tens of thousands of councillors in the UK. The bar to entry is frankly very low (speaking from experience of campaigning for councillors). There's going to be people who end up there either who are ineligible or with dodgy pasts. It's not exclusive to any party, as political parties focus on MPs/AMs/MSPs/etc, and leave council arrangements to local party branches.

 

[SuspectUsual]

This is no different to other parties though, e.g. SNP's Mhairi had to explain her past tweets.

Or this Labour councillor being suspended over Tweets he made 13 years before: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp827j77362o

That it becomes so viral when it's Reform is odd given the other parties deal with this all the time.

There's tens of thousands of councillors in the UK. The bar to entry is frankly very low (speaking from experience of campaigning for councillors). There's going to be people who end up there either who are ineligible or with dodgy pasts. It's not exclusive to any party, as political parties focus on MPs/AMs/MSPs/etc, and leave council arrangements to local party branches.

Indeed, but you'd think that a party like Reform, which sells itself as being "different to all the other parties" would focus on getting the basics right so that it could indeed demonstrate a tangible difference. But no, they're just as bad, if not worse because of the type of people they attract

 

[DarloRich]

This is no different to other parties though, e.g. SNP's Mhairi had to explain her past tweets.

I am sure - but it seems to happen to Reform more often than most. Must be a coincidence.

That it becomes so viral when it's Reform is odd given the other parties deal with this all the time.

They all so seem less keen to discipline people for dodgy social media. You don't have to go far down the rabbit hole to see how dodgy some of them are.

 

[styles]

I am sure - but it seems to happen to Reform more often than most. Must be a coincidence.


They all so seem less keen to discipline people for dodgy social media. You don't have to go far down the rabbit hole to see how dodgy some of them are.

Does it though? Or is it just reported on more than most? I'm not even sure the by-election we held for the candidate who stood down within days made the local papers until the day before the election.

I suspect they don't pull up their councillors about social media posts because they low-key agree with what's been posted. They want the issue to go away for the party's reputation's sake, but they don't actually want to discipline the councillor they fundamentally agree.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Does it though? Or is it just reported on more than most? I'm not even sure the by-election we held for the candidate who stood down within days made the local papers until the day before the election.

I suspect they don't pull up their councillors about social media posts because they low-key agree with what's been posted. They want the issue to go away for the party's reputation's sake, but they don't actually want to discipline the councillor they fundamentally agree.

Did any of the mainstream traditional media report that Reform lost both by-elections last week? I honestly only saw it mentioned on anti-Reform twitter feeds

 

[styles]

Did any of the mainstream traditional media report that Reform lost both by-elections last week? I honestly only saw it mentioned on anti-Reform twitter feeds

That's kinda the point - national media outlets don't report on local council elections because they happen almost every week.

At a push they might feature in local news or the local section of a national outlet, if it's noteworthy (e.g. the first time party X has won a seat on said council).

Otherwise, nobody really cares that a council seat 400 miles away has switched from Labour to Lib Dems or Reform to Labour.

It's a bit like how we don't hear about every person killed on the roads - 5 people are killed in motor vehicle collisions every day, it's not really 'news' unless it's a car driven into a primary school in Wimbledon or something.

Edit: for what it's worth, here's Reform winning their first seat on North Tyneside Council last week, so when you say Reform lost 'both by-elections last week', there were evidently more than two by-elections, and they won one! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4y029kv7lo. It's in the 'Tyne' local section of the website.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jul 2025 ==

I've just found this blog which is pretty cool, tracks all local authority by-elections.

Reform's first ever council by-election defences result in defeats, including to Lib Dems

Reform UK had to defend seats in council by-elections for the first time this week - and lost. That included to the Lib Dems in County Durham.

www.markpack.org.uk

Last week Reform won one seat in North Tyneside, one in Suffolk, and lost one seat in Durham (to Labour) and one in Notts (to the Tories). They went up 19.3 points in another North Tyneside seat but not enough to take out Labour. They were new entrants to the other 2. So their net change was 0.

They still appear to be doing quite well.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Edit: for what it's worth, here's Reform winning their first seat on North Tyneside Council last week, so when you say Reform lost 'both by-elections last week', there were evidently more than two by-elections

The first two seats they tried to defend, and they lost them both

 

[styles]

The first two seats they tried to defend, and they lost them both

You said:

Did any of the mainstream traditional media report that Reform lost both by-elections last week?

Last week there were 7 local authority by-elections. Reform gained 2 seats, lost 2 seats.

It's at best incorrect to say they lost 'both' by-elections last week when there were 7 and they won 2. At worst it's intentionally misleading.

 

[SuspectUsual]

You said:


Last week there were 7 local authority by-elections. Reform gained 2 seats, lost 2 seats.

It's at best incorrect to say they lost 'both' by-elections last week when there were 7 and they won 2. At worst it's intentionally misleading.

I should have said "both by-elections where they were the defending party"; apologies

 

[Acfb]

Jake Berry has defected to Reform. I'm surprised Reform accepted him TBH.

 

[brad465]

Jake Berry has defected to Reform. I'm surprised Reform accepted him TBH.

Yes if Reform UK want to prove they are "anti-establishment", accepting any former or current MPs from other parties does not help portray this.

 

[Acfb]

Yes if Reform UK want to prove they are "anti-establishment", accepting any former or current MPs from other parties does not help portray this.

You can at least argue that Lee Anderson, David Jones, Andrea Jenkyns, Marcus Longhi etc are more ideologically aligned with Farage/Reform even if their motivations were also partly opportunist yet Berry voted Remain and was closely aligned with David Cameron so any remaining Tory wets as well as Lab and LD MPs should be pointing out how ridiculous this is.

 

[Harpo]

Almost 21000 people have commented on the BBC news website following Farage's latest anti-migrant announcement. Taking a few Reform specific views in most-commented order:

74% Farage is a hypocrite or engineering 'this' for his own gain (7710 of 10,349)
77% Farage said Brexit would fix the problem (5776 of 7444)
84% Farage is managing to con many into thinking that he is the solution (3894 of 4613)
78% Farage would be catastrophic as a Prime Minister. (3957 of 5030)
75% Farage campaigns on an issue he helped create when we left the EU. (1926 of 2542)
74% Farage has already ended up costing the country a lot more than illegal migration costs. (1882 of 2522)

Yes, it's a BBC-only vox-pop and other broadcasters would probably get different results, but it's an interesting and sizeable sample.

Reform UK prepared to deport 600,000 under migration plans

The party outlines its plans to detain and deport all migrants who arrive in the UK on small boats.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[DerekC]

As @Harpo says, it's a BBC user sample and that is clearly going to be very selective. However a bit cheering! Also note that (very small straw in the wind) a byelection for an adjacent urban ward in our District Council was declared in the last couple of days. The result (on a poll of only 36%) was:

Lib Dem - 55%
Reform - 25%
Conservative - 20%

Labour didn't stand.

 

[greatkingrat]

The nature of these sorts of comments is they tend to be mostly negative. That would be the same whether the article was about Farage, Starmer, Badenoch, or anyone else.

 

[geoffk]

Half of yesterday's World at One on Radio 4 (24 minutes) was devoted to Farage and Reform, and their "solution" to immigration. We need to know why the BBC is so keen to give air time to a party with just four MPs. The BBC used to go to great lengths to preserve its impartiality, but not any more, it seems.

 

[JamesT]

Half of yesterday's World at One on Radio 4 (24 minutes) was devoted to Farage and Reform, and their "solution" to immigration. We need to know why the BBC is so keen to give air time to a party with just four MPs. The BBC used to go to great lengths to preserve its impartiality, but not any more, it seems.

A party that got 14.3% of the vote at the last general election, coming in third. They're clearly driving the narrative that other parties are responding to.
I would consider the BBC to be showing bias if they weren't covering it.

 

[class ep-09]

Almost 21000 people have commented on the BBC news website following Farage's latest anti-migrant announcement. Taking a few Reform specific views in most-commented order:

74% Farage is a hypocrite or engineering 'this' for his own gain (7710 of 10,349)
77% Farage said Brexit would fix the problem (5776 of 7444)
84% Farage is managing to con many into thinking that he is the solution (3894 of 4613)
78% Farage would be catastrophic as a Prime Minister. (3957 of 5030)
75% Farage campaigns on an issue he helped create when we left the EU. (1926 of 2542)
74% Farage has already ended up costing the country a lot more than illegal migration costs. (1882 of 2522)

Yes, it's a BBC-only vox-pop and other broadcasters would probably get different results, but it's an interesting and sizeable sample.

Reform UK prepared to deport 600,000 under migration plans

The party outlines its plans to detain and deport all migrants who arrive in the UK on small boats.

www.bbc.co.uk

No surprise here as BBC brings people , who are not “single issue” crowd (immigration) .
Right wing rags can’t offer anything else than fury , hate and pointing fingers at others . That’s where “single issue “ part of population feels at home , I am afraid .

 

[gg1]

A party that got 14.3% of the vote at the last general election, coming in third. They're clearly driving the narrative that other parties are responding to.
I would consider the BBC to be showing bias if they weren't covering it.

Added to that Reform have been consistently leading most opinion polls conducted over the past 4-5 months. As much as I loathe them, it's not unreasonable they're getting a lot of media coverage.

 

[yorkie]

Added to that Reform have been consistently leading most opinion polls conducted over the past 4-5 months. As much as I loathe them, it's not unreasonable they're getting a lot of media coverage.

The vast majority of people are opposed to Reform; many people would vote for a party they don't particularly support to keep the far-right out.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The vast majority of people are opposed to Reform; many people would vote for a party they don't particularly support to keep the far-right out.

Sadly I think you’re wrong, and the polls back that up. There are an awful lot of people who have lapped up the half truths and lies that Farage & co spout, and who now believe they are the downtrodden and the blame for all the things they don’t have in life lies with immigrants, (some of) the mainstream media and the established political parties.

The problem I have, and maybe others on here, is confirmation bias because the people we choose to be friends with tend to have similar beliefs, so if i think Farage is a mendacious snake oil salesman and that Lowe is a nasty, bitter little racist, the people I discuss it with will think in broadly similar ways

 

[PGAT]

Sadly I think you’re wrong, and the polls back that up. There are an awful lot of people who have lapped up the half truths and lies that Farage & co spout, and who now believe they are the downtrodden and the blame for all the things they don’t have in life lies with immigrants, (some of) the mainstream media and the established political parties.

The problem I have, and maybe others on here, is confirmation bias because the people we choose to be friends with tend to have similar beliefs, so if i think Farage is a mendacious snake oil salesman and that Lowe is a nasty, bitter little racist, the people I discuss it with will think in broadly similar ways

The polls put Reform consistently in the lead but only at around 30%, so that means 70% aren’t voting for them therefore at least partially opposed. Factor in turnout and its perfectly reasonable to conclude that the vast majority of people do not buy it.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The polls put Reform consistently in the lead but only at around 30%, so that means 70% aren’t voting for them therefore at least partially opposed. Factor in turnout and its perfectly reasonable to conclude that the vast majority of people do not buy it.

If that’s the case, then the vast majority of people don’t buy any political party.

Maybe that’s the case.

But the point is, at this moment in time, much as I and others hate it, they are the most popular party in opinion polls

 

[gg1]

The polls put Reform consistently in the lead but only at around 30%, so that means 70% aren’t voting for them therefore at least partially opposed. Factor in turnout and its perfectly reasonable to conclude that the vast majority of people do not buy it.

Labour won a huge majority with only 34% of the vote last year.

With Reform it's not just them winning a General Election I worry about, the more likely outcome of a Reform/Tory coalition (with a sizeable number of Reform MPs, not just the handful they currently have) would be almost as bad when you bear in mind how far the Tories have lurched to the right the past 5-10 years.