The British media now admits that none of Nigel Farage‘s candidates in the British elections were fake. The Guardian and other outlets had been pushing conspiracy theories that some Reform Party candidates may have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Reform Party candidate Mark Matlock became an unwitting viral sensation after digitally altering an image of himself. Unfounded rumors spread that he was an AI-generated candidate. The Guardian ran a lengthy article suggesting Reform was “under pressure to prove all its candidates were real people”—only conceding there was “no evidence any of the candidates are fake” nine paragraphs into their story.
Despite the Liberal Democrats fueling the conspiracy theories, demanding Reform “come clean with evidence,” the BBC now confirms it has “found no evidence that any of Reform’s candidates were fake.”
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak called the July 4 election on extremely short notice. This forced Reform, which won five seats in the election, to field a number of so-called “paper candidates” who did little or no active campaigning.
These included “friends, relations, office workers,” a spokesman explained.
Farage has promised his five-man contingent will be a “bridgehead” in Parliament, holding the governing Labour Party to account. He hopes they can form the basis for a mass movement for electoral reform and a new government in 2029.
Jack Montgomery contributed to this report.
