They've even called members of other parties and a Guardian journalist...
It seems that Reform are struggling to find enough candidates to stand in the upcoming local elections. The Guardian has revealed that they’re apparently so desperate that they’ve resorted to cold calling people and asking them to become ‘paper’ candidates for the party.
‘Paper’ candidates refer to people who stand for a political party but do not do any campaigning and are very unlikely to win.
According to the Guardian, Reform has been ringing people up who have signed up for Reform’s e-mail updates and asking them to stand. The paper reports that among the people who received a phone call were a Guardian journalist who was asked over the phone: “Will you come in to become a paper candidate today and help us to win the election?” The Guardian has also reported that even members of other political parties received these phone calls.
Nigel Farage has denied Reform have been cold-calling people, saying it would be “very, very fruitless”. He also said: “Have we called paid-up members of the party to see if they want to get engaged? Yes, but of course every party does that.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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