Feb 1, 2026 07:28 PM
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yve84y9xjo
INTRO: Reform UK has "turned down genuinely good people" because of social media posts they made in the past, according to one of its councillors. The party has been vetting candidates ahead of the Welsh Senedd election in May but has yet to announce who will be standing, its policies or its Welsh leader.
In January, UK leader Nigel Farage told a press conference the party's vetting in the past had been "poor, but it won't be in future". Reform councillor Jason O'Connell, who represents the party on Torfaen council, said the vetting process has been "corrected" and was "brutal, it's intrusive".
O'Connell said the party has done "everything they can" by "going through social media accounts and background checks".
"Social media now has been around for 20-plus years, there's a lot of history there. We've turned down some genuinely good people just on the off chance that they might have said something slightly off the wall 10, 20 years ago. We've lost that ability to bring them in because as, I said, digital is forever." (MORE - details)
INTRO: Reform UK has "turned down genuinely good people" because of social media posts they made in the past, according to one of its councillors. The party has been vetting candidates ahead of the Welsh Senedd election in May but has yet to announce who will be standing, its policies or its Welsh leader.
In January, UK leader Nigel Farage told a press conference the party's vetting in the past had been "poor, but it won't be in future". Reform councillor Jason O'Connell, who represents the party on Torfaen council, said the vetting process has been "corrected" and was "brutal, it's intrusive".
O'Connell said the party has done "everything they can" by "going through social media accounts and background checks".
"Social media now has been around for 20-plus years, there's a lot of history there. We've turned down some genuinely good people just on the off chance that they might have said something slightly off the wall 10, 20 years ago. We've lost that ability to bring them in because as, I said, digital is forever." (MORE - details)