Nigel Farage admitted Thursday that Reform's candidate vetting processes have been "piss poor" in recent years. The party leader made the blunt concession at a press conference in Scotland as Reform prepares to unveil its Holyrood election candidates in early March.
Farage expressed fury at being repeatedly undermined by candidates who failed background checks. «Nothing angers me more than all the work that I put in for this, seven days a week, being let down by people who haven't told us the truth and we, frankly, haven't put enough effort in or professionalism in to find out the truth about them,» he said.
When asked about past vetting standards, Farage didn't hold back: «Yeah, piss poor.» He elaborated: «Piss poor. Sorry it's crude but it's been piss poor in the past and it won't be in the future.»
Past Failures
The admission follows ongoing scrutiny of Reform's candidate selection. Nathan Gill, a former Welsh leader for the party, is serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence after admitting he took bribes to make pro-Russian statements.
Farage acknowledged the personal toll of such scandals. «So yes, I'm enormously angry that many times over the years I've been thrown into political crises through no fault of my own,» he said. «If it's my own fault, I can live with it, I can own it, but with things like this, it's not good enough.»
Future Promises
The Reform leader vowed improvements ahead of May's elections. He promised the party is «doing everything we can» to ensure «fit and proper people» are selected as candidates.
The party will unveil its slate of Holyrood candidates at a special conference in the first week of March. Farage had previously said he «can't apologise» for the lack of vetting of Reform's 2024 candidates.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
