Do you have any information or concerns about ‘phantom’ Reform Party parliamentary candidates who stood in the 2024 General Election for Byline Times’ VoteWatch investigation?
Email: votewatch24@bylinetimes.com
The elections watchdog is facing a flood of complaints over allegations that Reform UK fielded swathes of super-anonymous ‘phantom candidates’ in the 2024 General Election – potentially netting the party hundreds of thousands of pounds in extra public cash, or ‘Short money’, and hiking its national spending limits.
Voters across the country have raised concerns with the Electoral Commission about Reform parliamentary candidates with no online presence and blank website pages, leading to suspicions that some may not even exist. Byline Times has also received dozens of reports of Reform candidates who were nowhere to be found during the election.
While ‘paper candidates’ – who stand little chance of winning and therefore do not campaign – are not uncommon in UK politics, it is rare for almost no information to be available about candidates online.
Now, several high-profile democracy campaigners have called for an urgent investigation into the allegations of potential ‘fake’ candidates and clarity from both Reform and regulators.
Parliamentary candidates are not required to show identification when applying to stand for election. But, under changes introduced by Boris Johnson‘s Government, voters are required to do so at the ballot box – raising concerns that the rules are stricter for voters than they are for parties.
Reform UK’s Invisible Candidates: Who Are They Hiding?
Absent from hustings, media interviews, and social media, why are Nigel Farage’s Reform champions quite so elusive?
A bizarre loophole in electoral law means that, even if a candidate does not exist, officials must accept their nomination “at face value” and are barred from investigating anything suspicious.
The Electoral Commission admits it is powerless to investigate.
Former Labour minister Dame Margaret Hodge told Byline Times: “How can it be right that a regular voter has to prove they are who they say they are, yet the candidates they are voting for do not?
“This is a potential scandal, at a time when trust in our democracy is at an all-time low. So the fact that the Electoral Commission does not even have the proper powers to investigate is unfathomable.”