LONDON: As Nigel Farage鈥檚 anti-immigration Reform UK party registers gains in British opinion polls, its candidates are coming under greater scrutiny, with several accused of making racist and misogynistic comments.
The veteran pro-Brexit populist has claimed that Reform is 鈥渘ow the real opposition鈥� to predicted general election winners Labour, after a single YouGov poll published on Thursday put them a point ahead of the ruling Conservatives.
YouGov may be the only pollster so far to show a lead for Reform over the Tories but the hard-right party stands to gain from the support of right-wing voters disgruntled with 14 years of Conservative rule.
Earlier this year, Reform was polling in single digits.
It only obtained its first MP in March, when former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson defected to Reform after being reprimanded by the Conservatives.
He was sanctioned after refusing to apologize for falsely claiming that London mayor Sadiq Khan was 鈥渃ontrolled by Islamists.鈥�
Reform now has some 609 general election candidates 鈥� nearly double the number from 2019, when it was known as the Brexit Party.
According to Hope Not Hate, which campaigns against racism and fascism, Reform has ditched 166 candidates this year, with many having to be dropped for making offensive or racist comments.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak鈥檚 snap election call last month left Reform rushing to find nominees before final nominations were due last week 鈥� following its pledge to run in all of the country鈥檚 650 constituencies.
鈥淭he real danger lies in the haphazard approach of the party to candidate recruitment and vetting,鈥� said Georgie Laming, director of campaigns at Hope Not Hate.
One candidate was dropped in April for being 鈥渋nactive鈥� but the party had to apologize when it later transpired that he had in fact died.
鈥淭ime and time again, Reform UK candidates are exposed for racism and extremism,鈥� Laming said.
Farage admitted on Thursday that the party had failed to fully vet all its candidates.
鈥淒on鈥檛 forget, I鈥檝e come in right at the last minute. We have not had time to do full vetting of candidates,鈥� said Farage in an interview with LBC radio.
Farage is standing in the seaside resort of Clacton in eastern England after previously ruling out a bid to seek election.
The party had earlier conceded it was fielding some 鈥減aper鈥� candidates, with Reform chair Richard Tice saying the 鈥減ress and scrutineers鈥� were doing the vetting for them.
In the week since final candidate lists were published, the party has dropped at least two candidates over revelations of racism.
One used slurs against black people, among other offensive comments found by the Times newspaper.
Another liked an Islamophobic post calling London mayor Khan an 鈥渦ndercover jihadist.鈥�
Since then, dozens of accusations have been made against other Reform candidates still running for seats in Westminster.
One apologized after the BBC revealed he had posted online claiming that Britain would be better off if it had 鈥渢aken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality,鈥� and another calling women the 鈥渟ponging gender.鈥�
Reform defended the comments, with one spokesman saying they were 鈥渨ritten with an eye to inconvenient perspectives and truths.鈥�
Multiple candidates who are still running have liked and retweeted posts supporting Enoch Powell, a firebrand right-wing politician in the 1960s who stoked fears of racial war if immigration went unchecked.
One candidate was found by LBC comparing 鈥淚slam and Nazis鈥� as being 鈥渢he same.鈥�
Another retweeted a post saying Labour leader Keir Starmer was 鈥渙wned by Muslims.鈥�
Others have, like the party鈥檚 leadership, voiced climate change skeptic views.
One candidate鈥檚 biography on the Reform website called net zero a 鈥渄angerous false ideology鈥� and cited UAE and Russia鈥檚 questioning of the 鈥渟cience of climate change.鈥�
Farage, who wants the vote to be an 鈥渋mmigration election,鈥� has been accused of dog-whistle politics himself.
He said UK-born Sunak 鈥� Britain鈥檚 first prime minister of color and of Asian heritage 鈥� did not understand 鈥渙ur culture.鈥�