Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has introduced looser vetting criteria for all new candidates, even as it battles fresh controversy after one of its MPs suspended himself from the party amid an investigation into Covid loans.
Reform introduced a new set of “common sense” candidate vetting standards on Monday, which are designed to be “more proportionate” and strike a better balance between party reputation and freedom of expression.
An email sent to Reform members on Friday, and seen by the Financial Times, said: “We’re treating this as a blank slate. If you have previously failed vetting, you are strongly encouraged to reapply under the new standards . . . priority will be given to revetting.”
A senior Reform figure confirmed changes to the vetting system for both local and parliamentary candidates was going ahead, in spite of a brewing scandal surrounding one of the rightwing populist party’s five MPs elected last year.
James McMurdock removed the whip from himself on Saturday, hours before The Sunday Times published allegations that he had borrowed tens of thousands of pounds under the government’s Bounce Back loans scheme in 2020 through two companies he owned.
The newspaper raised questions around whether the businesses in question had enough revenue to meet the criteria for such loans, which helped small- and medium-sized enterprises to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Responding to questions on Monday, Farage said he was not Reform leader at the time that McMurdock was selected as a candidate, and so “can’t apologise” for the vetting procedure.
“The vetting process worked for this year, I can’t apologise for what happened before,” he said.
The new vetting system marks a shift away from the stringent standards that were introduced by former Reform chair Zia Yusuf, who fired dozens of staff and members as part of a professionalisation drive that upset some in the party.
Yusuf quit Reform last month before returning to the party 48 hours later in a different role. The former doctor and TV presenter David Bull replaced Yusuf as Reform chair.
Labour said it was “disturbing that Farage is seemingly looking to further water down Reform’s standards”, in light of recent controversies surrounding the party’s elected representatives.
While Reform had promised a strengthened approach to vetting ahead of May’s local elections, several of its new councillors have since been suspended or expelled.
One councillor in Doncaster was expelled from Reform for “unacceptable” online comments, while another in West Northamptonshire was suspended just over a month after his election because of “a number of concerns” about his conduct.
The party said: “Reform UK vetting procedure remains at the highest possible level. We are committed to upholding the highest possible standards for any potential candidate.
“We have made some minor tweaks to our old policy and thus have encouraged members to reapply.”
