A conspiracy theory has surfaced online that some of Reform UK’s candidates in the 2024 general election were not real people.
The Guardian reported on Monday (July 8) that some prospective candidates stood without providing photos, biographies, or contact details.
The theory gained further traction after X (formerly Twitter) account Dr Bella posted the campaign imagery of Mark Matlock, who ran as Reform UK candidate for Clapham and Brixton Hill.
“We might be on the verge of a HUGE SCANDAL. Suspicions have been raised that Reform have fielded election candidates that aren’t real people,” the account posted.
According to X’s statistics, the post has been viewed more than 6.8 million times.
The speculation arises from the highly airbrushed, fake-looking photo of Mark Matlock used in the Reform campaign literature.
Matlock did not appear at the vote count either, which gave weight to the concerns. However, his X account suggested he was ill at the time.
“Unfortunately I will not be attending the count tonight as I have pneumonia,” a July 4 post from the vote4MarkReform account read. The account was created in June 2024.
Unfortunately I will not be attending the count tonight as I have pneumonia.
— Mark Matlock (@vote4MarkReform) July 4, 2024
The hospital I visited was closed before it’s closing time. I said to the nurse on a buzzer I am struggling to breath and she said call a number.
Vote reform this is madness @NHSEngland @NHSuk pic.twitter.com/f5zP3ifJ67
Reform has insisted that all of its 609 candidates were real.
“All our candidates are categorically real. Given the rush, a few are just paper candidates and didn’t campaign. Some people began as paper candidates but then did campaign,” reads a statement published by the Guardian.
Matlock’s X account has also posted a video of himself, although it’s arguably only a partial likeness of the face on the Reform UK promotional material.
Matlock himself has since attempted to quash the conspiracy theory.
“The photo of me was taken outside the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I had the background removed and replaced with the logo and they changed the colour of my tie,” he told the Independent.
“The only reason that was done was because we couldn’t get a photographer at such short notice — but that is me.”
He also explained why he did not appear at the constituency’s hustings before the vote.
“I called Lambeth Council loads of times to get on hustings but none of them invited me to the hustings. I am so pro-hustings. I care about what I’m running for and invite people to question me but I was never given that opportunity,” he said.
Good morning, as you can see this is election interference a complete witch hunt.
— Mark Matlock (@vote4MarkReform) July 9, 2024
Set to destroy our integrity amongst our party.
I hope we have exposed this enough to bring these crooked criminals to light.
They are bottom feeders the lowest of the lowest.
In an X post on Tuesday (July 9) morning, he added: “Good morning, as you can see this is election interference, a complete witch hunt. Set to destroy our integrity amongst our party.
“I hope we have exposed this enough to bring those crooked criminals to light. They are bottom feeders, the lowest of the lowest.”
He also posted a video of himself dancing on Monday.
Reform came fifth in the Clapham and Brixton Hill general election vote with 1,758 votes, a 4.1 per cent share. Labour’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy won the seat with 24,166 votes.
A report published by the Centre for Policy Studies CPS suggested the general election could be the country’s “first deepfake election”.
In Matlock’s favour, today’s AI image-generating tools can do better in creating a persuasive fake person than what is seen in Reform’s smooth-skinned photo.
