Reform struggling for candidates

[JuliaMaesa]

Seems so many people want to vote for Reform, they are struggling to find candidates

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/07/reform-farage-cold-calling-public-paper-candidates-local-elections

I can't stand them, but a reminder that the AI candidate stuff was debunked.

No, Reform did not put up fake AI candidates in election (inews.co.uk)

Pity in a way, because for all the big problems with AI, it would likely do the job better.

I truly hope that god awful bunch cannot find any candidates at all.

They will though so I am not holding my breath.

If a candidate is elected being a Councillor is a demanding role and not a sinecure. I'm at the opposite end of the political spectrum to Refuk; hovering between Labour and Green but I wouldn't do it.

Reform have had a constant stream of candidates and elected officers who have past history of racism and other misconduct. One might hope that they're being more picky than they were. That might account for the loud cries from in the party that people with Tory history and, by inference, experience in elected office being preferred to 'grassroots' Reform folks.

This can't be helping the problem right now.

We have a Reform Councillor for our local ward (had elections last year). Or at least we did- she's now defected to become independent. I was told that Reform expects its councillors to give them money in some way, but I haven't fact checked that.

Anyhoo, she's a fairly dire councillor. We've hardly heard a peep out of her since she was elected, not even in the aftermath of Storm Goretti, which was pretty dramatic in these parts.

She did post on the village Facebook page the other week, signposting members to some useful service or other, but the photo she used was of a place with a similar name to our village 20 miles away, to universal derision.

So I would say she's pretty damn crinkly, if not a classic example of a paper candidate.

The splits and defecting to independent is another thing with Refuk. Partly factionalism but also with a lot of people who've not done this stuff before people don't get how it works or leaders have dictatorial styles.

No, they’re not.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8x7yj99jrwo
Tice £91,000 tax row is 'minor administrative error', party claims

At my local Reform branch there were plenty of people standing as local councillors and all 9 standing won too. A Labour candidate we know was a paper candidate as he did it as a favour for his sister who is a Labour councillor and she told him they did not have any people applying to be candidates. He did no campaign and didn't even turn up on the night to the count.

My DH has just become a Reform councillor. He has had no request for money.