Following the historic 2024 UK general elections, one political party is being accused of using fake candidates.
Reform UK is under fire after the public raised doubts about whether all 609 of their candidates are real.
The accusations arose as a result of their candidates providing very little to no details for their bid for a seat in parliament.
According to The Guardian, Reform UK said that all their candidates are real people. However, they also admitted that some of those candidates were simply on the ballot to increase the party’s vote share.
Adding to the weight of the accusations, many candidates listed on Reform UK’s website show very little information on the candidate. Some only have a name, location, and a generic email address with zero online presence.
“All our candidates are categorically real. Given the rush, a few are just paper candidates and didn’t campaign,” a Reform UK source told the Guardian.
If proven true, utilising fake candidates is a serious electoral offence.
One particular candidate was accused of being fake because the image he used on the website looked like it was AI-generated.
Source: Reform UK
Suspicions over his corporeal legitimacy were further questioned when he didn’t show up for the electoral count. Sceptics also added that there were no photos of him campaigning.
However, the candidate is indeed a real person. His name is Matt Matlock and he won 1,758 votes in Clapham and Brixton Hill in south London.
Speaking to The Guardian, he provided a reason for why the image looked doctored – because it was.
“The image is me. Stupidly I had to get it altered to change my tie and suit as I couldn’t get to a photographer on time,” he explained.
He also provided The Guardian with a copy of the original image. He attributed a lot of Reform UK’s current fake candidate issues to the rush over Rishi Sunak’s surprise call for an election.
Also read: Keir Starmer will be UK’s new PM after Rishi Sunak concedes defeat in general election
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Featured image adapted from Reform UK and Reform UK on Facebook.
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