Reform UK Send Candidates For Psychiatric Testing To "Avoid Another Rupert Lowe"
Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, and Rupert Lowe arrive at the House of Commons in Westminster. Tuesday July 9, 2024 | Alamy
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Reform UK’s vetting process requires their parliamentary candidates to undergo psychiatric testing to assess mental health and check for problem behaviour.
Candidates identified as having “behavioural issues” are ruled out from standing for the party, PoliticsHome understands.
According to one senior party source the psychiatric test is also used to identify future leaders and will help the party to “avoid another Rupert Lowe” incident.
The party expelled the Great Yarmouth MP in March over allegations of workplace bullying and threats against its former chairman Zia Yusuf.
Lowe strongly denies the allegations and claims he was the victim of a witch hunt after speaking out against party leader Nigel Farage which led to a bitter public feud between the pair.
In May the CPS confirmed they would not be bringing any changes against Lowe. The Great Yarmouth MP accused Farage of targeting him “with a brutal smear campaign”, branding him a “coward and a viper”.
A psychiatric test typically involves gathering information about an individual's mental, emotional, and behavioural state to determine if a mental health disorder is present.
When approached for comment Lowe told PoliticsHome: “I won’t take any lectures on behavioural issues from a party that is happy to put a bloke in a women’s prison.”
He added: “Reform is a steaming woke mess.”
In July, Reform told party members it was introducing a new “common sense” vetting system for candidates after complaints that the previous checks were too strict.
The party said vetting was “more proportionate than before and designed to strike the right balance between party reputation, individual freedom of expression and public confidence”.
An email sent to party members said: “We’re treating this as a blank slate. If you have previously failed vetting, you are strongly encouraged to reapply under the new standards . . . priority will be given to re-vetting”.
According to a senior party source, there was a discussion about ditching psychiatric testing under the new vetting system but pushback meant it was kept in place.
Reform UK was contacted for comment.
A party source points out that the Conservative Party's parliamentary Assessment Board (PAB) has a similar process for candidate testing.
Candidates for Nigel Farage’s party are also sent for psychometric testing so the party can understand how they act in situations and how they work as a team. According to a party source, the test includes written and verbal tasks as well as observations about their behaviour towards other candidates and staff.
Reform suspended several parliamentary candidates during the general election campaign last year, including one who praised Hitler’s “brilliant” tactics. Farage said at the time that the vetting company he hired to check candidates did not do its job properly.
Ex-Reform MP James McMurdock quit the party last month after a Sunday Times investigation published allegations that he had borrowed tens of thousands of pounds in Covid loans under the government’s Bounce Back scheme in 2020 through two companies he owned. Reform has called for him to resign so a by-election can take place.
In a statement on X McMurdock wrote: “I have now had a chance to take specialist legal advice from an expert in the relevant field.
“In light of that advice, which is privileged and which I choose to keep private at this time, I have decided to continue my parliamentary career as an independent MP where I can focus 100 per cent on the interests of my constituents.”
For May 2026, the party will need to find more than 3,000 candidates, with 1,800 council seats up for election in London alone.
Since the 2024 election, the party has been working to professionalise its vetting process.
