Reform accused of ‘money spinner’ as party set to charge would-be Senedd Members £200 fee
Emily Price
Reform UK has been accused of using its candidate selection process for the Senedd election as a money making opportunity after it was revealed that would-be MSs will be charged £200 to be assessed.
Nation.Cymru was made aware this week of an email sent to Reform members explaining that the charge would include “£50 for the application and vetting and £150 for a full day at an assessment centre”.
Reform says the fee will cover criminal background checks and the cost of hiring a venue and providing food for Senedd hopefuls during the assessment day.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “These fees cover vetting and administrative costs.
“We do hardship waivers for those that cannot afford it.”
Nation.Cymru asked how a candidate would qualify for such a waiver – but we were not provided with an answer.
‘Aggressive rhetoric’
Labour Blaenau Gwent MS Alun Davies accused Reform UK of using the cash to fund leader Nigel Farage’s lifestyle.
He said: “It’s two things. Firstly they know that their racist and aggressive rhetoric attracts people who are simply unfit to hold public office.
“And secondly it’s a money-spinner which funds Farage’s lifestyle.”
There is currently no Reform UK Senedd members in the Welsh Parliament but recent polling suggests the party could overtake Labour in the 2026 election.
It is unclear how many Reform members are likely to apply to be a candidate and pay the £200 fee.
We asked the other main political parties if they plan to charge potential candidates to be assessed and vetted.
Support
Welsh Labour confirmed they will not be charging a fee – with one source saying that the party is looking at how it can provide support for first time candidates.
Plaid Cymru similarly will not charge members looking to stand in 2026.
A Plaid source pointed out that if Reform UK fill each of the 16 Senedd constituency lists with 8 candidates – the party could bring in over £25,000 just for vetting and processing.
A Reform source claimed the Welsh Conservatives also plan to charge for vetting their candidates ahead of the Senedd election.
The source pointed us to a Tory document which listed a fee of £120 for an application and £250 to cover the cost of an open day and processing.
But the Welsh Tories later confirmed to us that the document related to the general election and that there are no plans to charge Senedd hopefuls for vetting.
The Liberal Democrat’s on the other hand will be charging a fee of £100 to those looking to apply to stand in Wales’ election next year – this is the same amount the party charges for general election candidates.
The Lib Dem’s approval process includes an interview, exam, vetting and some training.
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Today’s addition to the Goon Show, somebody out there loves him…
English Nationalist Nutters, with money to waste.
Pay £200, we’ll give you the answers and you’re in. The questions are: Who do you love? White, English, English speaking ONLY people. Well done. Who do you hate? Even if they speaks perfick English, anyone who has the ability to speaks ‘foreign’, including Welsh, Scottish and Irish Gaelic and ANY language other than English and are caught in possession of a skin colour other than white and follow a religion other than the Church of England. Congratulations. You are the perfect candidate for us. You have passed our rigorous vetting procedure. Welcome to Reform UK. Your money has been… Read more »
‘Who do you love’ good question…anyone daft enough, or rich enough, nasty little millionaires…
Juicy Lucy…early doors…1970…
Who vetted Farage I wonder? Do Reform UK actually have a vetting system? If they do, it’s as watertight as colander. There’s been Reform councillors sacked for corruption even before they’ve taken up office. A disgruntled Tory councillor in Cornwall jumped ship and joined Reform UK, saw how it was run from within, was horrified after they said he had to sign a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement, and then defected back to the Conservatives. A Reform Candidate was suspended after social media posts revealed his support of serial Paedophile Jimmy Saville. And remember, he was already vetted to stand. Recently… Read more »
The Lib Dem’s approval process includes an interview, exam, vetting and some training.
Note the use of the apostrophe there.
I wonder what the exam is like, warm up with basic facts about past party leaders, then an essay question on the advantages or otherwise of going into the Tory coalition in 2010?
The approval process belonging to the a party should have an apostrophe.
Labour’s plans
Plaid’s process
Etc…
Let me be clear, I deteste so called ‘Reform UK’ with a passion! That said considering the Tories charge those applying to be UK General Election candidates and the Welsh Lib Dems charge Welsh General Election candidate applicants for a clearly laid out process. I will reserve my judgment until I have seen what, if any, process there is. I don’t know maybe I’m being too guarded in my approach, but I’d rather be accused of that than being an overly emotional male on his 24 hour cycle.
Sorry but it’s a bit rich of Alun Davies to talk about “racist rhetoric” when his own party leader keir starmer disgracefully channeled Enoch Powell in a recent speech.
Here we go again Plaid supporters ) sorry if you are not one David) ridiculously drawing an equivalence between the far-right English nationalist party Reform and Labour. If they are the same why has Rhun singled out Reform as the only party he’ll definitely not work with after the election?
Assume that the “£150 for a full day at an assessment centre” will also apply to any muttonheads who are considering voting for this woeful Del Boy and his band of misfits and wackadoodles.
This surely shouldn’t come as any surprise, given that Reform isn’t a political party in the conventional sense, but rather a public limited company with but one majority shareholder.
And public limited companies are in business, which of course involves making money wherever they spot a business opportunity. If they thought they could get away with it without putting people off, they’d probably want folk to pay a charge for voting for them!
Alun Davies quiet on the political levy that Labour politicians pay from their renumeration, we even had council finance departments collecting on behalf of party in past.
In Labour handbook there is is a 2% levy on all allowances received for councillors.
If you’re Welsh & live in Wales, why the hell would you pay to represent this bunch of English idiots?
Keep this filth out of Wales.