Reform UK Under Pressure To Prove All Its Candidates Were Real People

[Nick]

We know he's real, but for some reason he used an AI-generated image to prove he was real in a photo.

That seems like a very smart thing to do - it's the kind of thing only true winners at life do

He apparently did that so as to add a reform tie to
his profile picture as he hadn't been issued one. 

[Borg Refinery]

How you know Tice bankrolls them?

Reform UK reliant on leader Richard Tice for 80% of funding since 2021
Tice has loaned party £1.4m since taking over and has said party's lack of resources is making campaigning difficult

The Guardian

I've read that Reform UK keep most of their donors & donations hidden; they use ways around the rules to keep most donors off the books. They also break spending limits using dirty tactics and other organisations to do their work for them.

But you're right - the article linked earlier doesn't strictly say Peter Cruddas donated to them. My mistake.

I did read some billionaires would donate to them/donated to them before, including billionaire Arron Banks vowing to raise £10m for them if Farage returns - which he did

Former UKIP backer Arron Banks vows to raise £10million if Nigel Farage returns to lead Reform UK

Daily Mail

[Scott777]

Peter Cruddas: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/17/tory-peer-peter-cruddas-shared-posts-supporting-nigel-farage-and-reform-uk

Richard Tice also bankrolls the party directly and is a multi-millionaire (I thought he was also a billionaire)

It would not surprise me, however, the article does not say Cruddas bankrolls Reform.  How you know Tice bankrolls them?

[Borg Refinery]

I've seen an interview with the so called AI generated Reform candidate, and he is real. Can't give you any more of a reality check than that.

We know he's real, but for some reason he used an AI-generated image to prove he was real in a photo.

That seems like a very smart thing to do - it's the kind of thing only true winners at life do

[Borg Refinery]

Which billionaire?

Peter Cruddas: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/17/tory-peer-peter-cruddas-shared-posts-supporting-nigel-farage-and-reform-uk

Richard Tice also bankrolls the party directly and is a multi-millionaire (I thought he was also a billionaire)

[Borg Refinery]

Well whatever reason Sumak had for calling the election it worked , reform were unprepared and he did for many of his own MP's
I dont think Reform were that 'up' for the election and were not really preparing for hard campaign as Johnson was still sitting on his 80 seat majority just 12 months ago . Dont forget that Reform stood down in many wards to help Johnson get Brexit done and were giving him every chance to complete the job
Alas the Windsor Framework proved that you could indeed never trust a Tory and Reform got back into full swing as that was coming to light ,Johnsons removal and Sunaks soft approach to the EU renewed the purpose .
The AI thing might be a story but isnt much of one , the guy used it , welcome to the 21st Century .

Yes maybe a few seats less than expected but a foothold has been established ,lets hope they can kick on and be the party of the centre right .That will in some respects depend on where the Conservatives position themselves when the wreckage of whats left of their party has been re-organised

Yup, Brexit Party sold out to the Tories who cheated Farage out of a seat in 2015. You've got to love it.

The AI thing is a hilarious story that did the rounds across the internet

Sunak was indeed always going to stiff you on Brexit, but welcome to the Tory Party, they stiffed Boris like they stiffed Maggie and they stiff all their own

Let's face it, Reform got only 5 seats and were acting like Clegg did before May 2010 when he was predicting they'd win bigly, that never materialised just like it never did for Clegg. They're in LDs territory. No one wants to be in LD territory.

[papasmurf]

Which billionaire?

I was going to suggest searching Electoral Commission web site for that info but although I can view the reform data on line, (published today,) if post the link I get a 404 message.

[Scott777]

They became Reform UK in 2021, so they've had almost 3 years to prep for an election they knew was going to happen in 2024, they have a billionaire bankrolling their party,

Which billionaire?

[Nick]

The excuses never cease, wonders either

How long have we known the election was going to come along again? It's usually but not always mid-year

How many years did they have to prepare for 2024 when they knew the election was going to happen..?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_UK

They became Reform UK in 2021, so they've had almost 3 years to prep for an election they knew was going to happen in 2024, they have a billionaire bankrolling their party, they don't have the democracy or transparency other parties have yet .......

One of them even used an AI image to prove he was a real person

I've seen an interview with the so called AI generated Reform candidate, and he is real. Can't give you any more of a reality check than that. 

[Barry]

Just to prove that they were real people, here is a photo of our Reform UK candidate:

[Streetwalker]

The Con reason for an early election was Sunak spiting his own party, to torpedo their own chances - payback for defying him. To suggest the Tories called an early election just to stagger Reform UK is also a funny claim

They had 3 years to get their house in order and knew an election was round the corner at the start of 2024, election prep should begin at the beginning of the year for any sensible party, but we're not dealing with a sensible party here

As for AI proving someone is real An enhanced image would be silly too, but there's a world of difference between touching up a real photo in photoshop vs actually generating an entirely fake image

But not to worry, all this and more clearly resonated with the voters, hence 5 seats (instead of the predicted 16 or more) that they got

Well whatever reason Sumak had for calling the election it worked , reform were unprepared and he did for many of his own MP's 
I dont think Reform were that 'up' for the election and were not really preparing for hard campaign as Johnson was still sitting on his 80 seat majority just 12 months ago . Dont forget that Reform stood down in many wards to help Johnson get Brexit done and were giving him every chance to complete the job 
Alas the Windsor Framework proved that you could indeed never trust a Tory and Reform got back into full swing as that was coming to light ,Johnsons removal and Sunaks soft approach to the EU renewed the purpose .
The AI thing might be a story but isnt much of one , the guy used it , welcome to the 21st Century .

Yes maybe a few seats less than expected but a foothold has been established ,lets hope they can kick on and be the party of the centre right .That will in some respects depend on where the Conservatives position themselves when the wreckage of whats left of their party has been re-organised 

[Borg Refinery]

The Con reason for an early election was Sunak spiting his own party, to torpedo their own chances - payback for defying him. To suggest the Tories called an early election just to stagger Reform UK is also a funny claim

They had 3 years to get their house in order and knew an election was round the corner at the start of 2024, election prep should begin at the beginning of the year for any sensible party, but we're not dealing with a sensible party here

As for AI proving someone is real An enhanced image would be silly too, but there's a world of difference between touching up a real photo in photoshop vs actually generating an entirely fake image

But not to worry, all this and more clearly resonated with the voters, hence 5 seats (instead of the predicted 16 or more) that they got

[Streetwalker]

The excuses never cease, wonders either

How long have we known the election was going to come along again? It's usually but not always mid-year

How many years did they have to prepare for 2024 when they knew the election was going to happen..?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_UK

They became Reform UK in 2021, so they've had almost 3 years to prep for an election they knew was going to happen in 2024, they have a billionaire bankrolling their party, they don't have the democracy or transparency other parties have yet .......

One of them even used an AI image to prove he was a real person

Its not an excuse ,I don't know what they were up to but they have said they were in the process of doing background checks on candidates for an Autumn election . They obviously got caught out which was probably the conservatives reason for going early .

How does an AI image prove you are a real person ,  not really a lot different to an enhanced photo ,if it looks like you whats the problem ?

[Borg Refinery]

As was explained at the time ,the short notice of the election left them little choice than to put forward paper candidates  if they were to give the electorate the opportunity to vote for the party . The very nature of a 'paper candidate' is that they lend their name to the ballot but don't campaign , attend hustings or the like .

The excuses never cease, wonders either

How long have we known the election was going to come along again? It's usually but not always mid-year

How many years did they have to prepare for 2024 when they knew the election was going to happen..?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_UK

They became Reform UK in 2021, so they've had almost 3 years to prep for an election they knew was going to happen in 2024, they have a billionaire bankrolling their party, they don't have the democracy or transparency other parties have yet .......

One of them even used an AI image to prove he was a real person 

[papasmurf]

The very nature of a 'paper candidate' is that they lend their name to the ballot but don't campaign , attend hustings or the like .

There was no sign of three out of the six candidates where I live and no canvassers from any of the six candidates.