Reform UK’s Invisible Candidates: Who Are They Hiding?

The Reform UK candidate near me probably would not call himself a local. That is entirely fair, as London is a hugely metropolitan city. What might be more of an issue should he be elected is the fact that he lives a 38 hour walk to his hopeful constituency. 

Mark Matlock wants to make “big changes to London”. But it would involve getting from his South Cotswolds home to South London, Brixton, to do so.  

There is precious little information available about Mark Matlock, I discovered on a recent flick through candidates in nearby seats. 

His profile photo is almost perfectly airbrushed. The only video on his site is of Nigel Farage. I can see no evidence of hustings appearances or media interviews. (He has not responded to a request for comment as yet – but we will include it if he does). 

Why so shy? When I noticed dear Mark’s curious absence, I began to notice similar trends in other constituencies. 

But first I asked other candidates if they’d seen or heard from him. 

Green party candidate Shao-Lan Yuen told Byline Times: “I haven’t seen or heard from the Reform UK candidate for Clapham and Brixton Hill constituency.  He wasn’t at the hustings.” 

“I’ve heard suspicions that the image on his leaflets are AI generated.”

Independent Jon Key added there was “no sign of him.” 

“I did email Mark, as well as all the other candidates.  I heard back from a few, but not from Mark…He doesn’t live in the constituency,” he tells me. 

Kay added: “It has been very quiet in general, in fact…I have only seen three posters in a 76,000 person constituency.  This is what happens with first past the post, I guess.”

Mark Matlock is a local compared to some Bristolians’ Reform candidates though. (Update: 8th July, both Byline Times and Private Eye have now confirmed Matlock is a real person. He appears to be an antiques dealer originally from Guernsey).

Council records show that the Reform candidate for Bristol South, for example, lives in…Gibraltar. It would be a three hour flight to his seat should he somehow win the support of the radical South West city.

The Reform candidate for Leeds North East likewise has almost no digital footprint. There is seemingly no video, just a couple of pictures. One constituent tells me: “He’s not been to hustings, but the few videos I have found don’t have him in [either].”

They accept that joke candidate Count Binface is a pseudonym, but at least he’s been visible. 

Social media sleuths have also been trying to figure out who South Dorset candidate Morgan Young is. “There is still no sign of Reform UK Party Ltd’s candidate Morgan Tara Young just two days before the general election. No photo, no bio, no social media,” BrexitBuster wrote on X. 

Public council records show that the coastal candidate li