Reform candidate vetting: Farage throws Tice under the bus
Nigel Farage has addressed the issue of how Reform candidates were vetted before the July 4th 2024 Election. It has arisen again as Reform MP James McMurdock has lost the whip following reports about financial irregularities during the pandemic period (which he denies). Previously Reform MP Rupert Lowe was purged after a fall out with Farage.
Speaking on 7th July Farage claimed that the vetting or otherwise of General Election candidates was nothing to do with him but was the responsibility of Dicky Tice who was leader at the time. Tice is the MP for Boston, Skegness and Dubai Central.
At the time (June 2024) Farage blamed the fact that there were Reform Election candidates who thought Hitler was a good bloke on failures by a ‘reputable vetting company’.
Presumably the reputable company’s lawyers have since had a word so Farage is now blaming Tice who given Farage’s known penchant for falling out with people may soon be spending even more time in Dubai with his partner Isabel Oakeshitt.
Anyone who follows the travails of Reform will know that Farage’s statement that there have been no issues with Reform Council candidates who stood on May 1st 2025 will know this is a lie, another of Farage’s trademarks.
Later on Monday 7th July because consistency is everything for Reform, it announced that it will now have a lighter touch vetting process. Presumably its now ok to like Hitler a bit as long as you don’t mention invading Poland.
Guardian Report 7th July 2025
I came in, I inherited this situation where hundreds of candidates who stood in the last general election had not gone through a vetting process.
I said on 5 July, the day after the election last year, that we would now professionalise.
We put 1,630 candidates into the field on 1 May, more than any other party with very, very few rows or arguments – so the vetting process worked for this year, I can’t apologise for what happened before.
Leave a Reply