"Hello. How are you? Would you be willing to stand as a Reform UK candidate in the London local elections on May 7?" A friendly male voice echoed at the other end of my mobile phone in late March, with a most unexpected offer. Me, a candidate for a far-right party, the embodiment of English nationalism, when I am a French journalist at a major progressive daily and my only interactions with Reform UK so far have been to cover its rise, interviewing its elected officials and supporters?
For a year now, Reform UK has been leading the polls in the United Kingdom and is hoping to achieve historic breakthroughs in Wales, Scotland and London in the regional elections on May 7. My journalistic curiosity was piqued. How did Reform UK get my contact details? Who passed my information to the party's campaign team? Why are they calling random people in hopes of finding candidates?
'Paper candidate'
"You would just be a paper candidate, you have no chance of being elected," the voice on the phone clarified. By agreeing to have their name on the ballot, "paper candidates" allow a party to appear on the ticket in a place where its chances are slim, but can still collect some votes. I replied that I could not accept such a proposal. My caller was not deterred, asking me to confirm my address and whether I was personally bankrupt or had a criminal record (the answer to both is no), then assured me someone would call back "to handle the formalities."
