Reform candidate in Wales steps down after apparent Nazi salute | Reform UK
The Reform UK candidate in the Senedd elections to be held in Wales in May has announced that he is withdrawing due to mental health after a photo emerged of him imitating Adolf Hitler and giving a Nazi salute.
Reform’s announcement comes a day after Nigel Farage defended Corey Edwards, the lead candidate for the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency, saying he might instead be imitating the John Cleese character Basil Fawlty.
The Reformation also had problems with candidate selection in Scotland; The four candidates elected in May’s election here either withdrew or were suspended within a week of being announced by Farage.
The photo of Edwards, a former adviser to Conservative former Wales secretary David T.C. Davies, appeared on the Nation.Cymru website and showed him raising his right arm, holding a finger of his left hand under his nose.
A spokesperson for Reform UK Wales said: “Corey Edwards has informed us that he is withdrawing from standing for this May’s Senedd election, citing mental health issues.
“We wish him good luck in the future and hope his privacy is respected at this difficult time.”
In an episode of the 1970s BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, the eponymous hotelier portrays Cleese, goose-stepping with his finger under his nose in front of some German visitors. In a TV interview on Thursday, Farage defended Edwards, saying: “It was a Fawlty Towers impression. Maybe we should ban the BBC, I don’t know.” He added: “I get it; it looks awful. Lonely things often look that way. I wouldn’t approve of that.”
Asked if Edwards would be suspended, Farage said: “No, he’s a human being.”
In his first statement on Thursday, Edwards said he acknowledged he made a mistake but was imitating Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, who was photographed making a similar gesture in 2019. I didn’t know what a Nazi salute was.
Another confirmed Reform candidate for the May 7 election in Wales is Laura Anne Jones, the party’s only Senedd member. He was suspended from parliament for two weeks last November for using an offensive Chinese slur in an office WhatsApp group.
A week ago, Reform UK suspended one of its Scottish candidates, Dundee City West candidate Stuart Niven, after it was revealed he had been sacked as a company director.
Three other Scottish candidates have shared offensive, far-right or misinformation on social media, including calling Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first Muslim leader, “not British” and supporting social media posts by Tommy Robinson and Britain First.
