Reform’s disgraced Nazi salute candidate returns to campaigning night before election

Emily Price

A disgraced Reform UK Senedd candidate who stood down after an image emerged of him performing a Nazi salute has resumed campaigning the night before voting gets underway in the Senedd election.

Corey Edwards was selected as Reform’s lead candidate in the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency at the end of March.

But shortly after his candidacy was announced, Nation.Cymru published an image of Edwards with his fingers placed on his upper lip and his arm raised in the air in a Nazi-style salute.

The former special adviser to the Secretary of State for Wales later confirmed he would step down, citing mental health struggles.

On Wednesday evening (May 6), Reform’s lead candidate for the Gŵyr Abertawe constituency, Francesca O’Brien, shared a photo on Facebook of herself smiling alongside her campaign team.

O’Brien captioned the image: “Big thanks to everyone for their support 👏 Across the constituency today, our team have been working hard.

“Great to be on the doorstep with this team this afternoon 💪 ”

In the background of the photo, Edwards can be seen wearing dark sunglasses and holding a bundle of Reform UK election leaflets.

Reform UK was invited to comment but did not respond.

It is unclear whether Edwards has been canvassing alongside O’Brien throughout the run up to the election.

A Welsh Conservative source sharply criticised the party for allowing Edwards to take part in its campaigning the night before the Senedd election.

The source said: “Reform said that the Nazi sympathisers in their ranks were nothing but bad apples.

“But instead of distancing themselves from these unsavoury characters, they’re making these people an active part of their campaign.

“Reform have a number of shady individuals in their ranks with questionable pasts, so people should really start to think twice before putting them into elected office.”

Reform’s Francesca O’Brien has been at the centre of several controversies herself relating to comments she made about people on benefits and her links to far-right figures in Wales.

‘Vile’

The Welsh Liberal Democrats said Edwards’ participation in canvassing showed that Reform UK fails to take action against those found to have carried out “vile actions”.

A spokesperson for the Lib Dems said: “This of course also shows the poor judgement of Reform’s candidate Francesca O’Brien who has her own controversial history including stating that people on Benefits Street ‘need putting down’.

“The people of Swansea and Gower deserve better. That’s why they should back the Lib Dems and local councillor Sam Bennett to deprive Reform of the final seat in Swansea.”

Leader Nigel Farage initially defended Edwards over the offensive image, dismissing the gesture as a Fawlty Towers impression, while Edwards himself claimed he had been imitating a footballer.

The gesture, adopted in 1930s Nazi Germany, was used to signify obedience to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.

Where the photo was taken, and what prompted Edwards to make the gesture remains unclear — although the image had reportedly been known within Conservative circles for at least six years.

After announcing his decision to quit in March, Edwards posted a video statement to X saying his political opponents were “digging up dirt” from his distant past.

Questions began to mount over the robustness of Reform’s vetting procedures after further evidence emerged of past misconduct by Edwards, including video footage of him driving while drinking from a beer bottle.

Offensive social media posts and images of the Reform hopeful were also unearthed by Nation.Cymru and former colleagues described him as “racist and sexist”.

Reform UK claimed it had carried out a “brutal and intrusive” vetting process to pick its candidates for the Senedd election.

Despite this, several unsuccessful Reform UK Senedd hopefuls alleged the process was fixed to favour friends of senior officials, with one whistleblower describing the vetting procedure as “expensive, flawed and unprofessional”.