A picture has emerged of a top Reform candidate in the upcoming Welsh Senedd elections appearing to perform a Nazi salute.
Corey Edwards, a former Conservative who previously worked as a special advisor to the Welsh Secretary, is standing for Reform UK in Bridgend, Vale of Glamorgan.
The image, first reported by Nation.Cymru, appears to show him grinning as he mimicks a moustache with his index finger and holds out his other hand in a salute.
As it is so closely cropped, it is unclear when the photograph was taken and there are no clues to the context.
According to Nation.Cymru, the existence of the picture has been known about ‘within Conservative circles’ for six years or more.
It emerged less than 24 hours after Edwards was unveiled as a candidate by Reform.
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A spokesperson for Reform UK Wales said: ‘We’re not willing to write people off forever because of mistakes they made when they were young people.’
Earlier this year, Welsh Reform councillor Jason O’Connell described the vetting process for party candidates as ‘brutal’ and ‘intrusive’.
He told BBC Radio Wales: ‘We’ve turned down some genuinely good people just on the off chance that they might have said something slightly off the wall 10, 20 years ago.’
David Chadwick, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Wales, called on Reform party leader Nigel Farage to suspend Edwards ‘immediately’.
He said: ‘This is absolutely abhorrent. A Nazi salute is one of the most vile symbols imaginable. Anyone associated with this has no place in our politics.’
Farage launched the Reform Welsh manifesto on March 5, saying his party would ‘end Labour dominance’ in the country.
Polls suggest Reform UK is likely to beat the party of government into third place in Wales, a jaw-dropping prospect when Welsh Labour has won every national election there since 1922.
Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru are expected to come out on top in the election, with a poll earlier this week giving them a 33% vote share to Reform’s 27% and Welsh Labour’s 13%.
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