Richard Tice has fumed at accusations his party fielded ‘AI candidates’ in the General Election, saying the claims are “utter trash and garbage”.
Reform UK won five seats at the July 4th election having slated more than 600 candidates in constituencies across the country.
But suspicions have been raised on social media over so-called “paper candidates” who stood in the election and did no campaigning but helped increase the party’s vote share by being on ballot papers.
Mark Matlock, who stood for Reform UK Clapham and Brixton Hill, didn’t attend any of the hustings in his constituency and wasn’t at the vote count on election eve, prompting speculation that he didn’t exist.
He also admitted to Private Eye that he used an AI-generated image on campaign pictures because he didn’t have a picture of himself in Reform’s turquoise tie.
Reacting to the accusations, Tice told Peston that he is “steaming mad” about the whole furore.
Watch the clip in full below:
Related: Reform UK candidate appears on GB News to prove he’s not AI-generated