THE Reform UK candidate for Glasgow North has been found after concerns were raised about whether they existed.
Helen Burns has insisted “I do indeed exist” after voters could find no social media presence linking her to Reform, and she failed to campaign in the area or appear at the count on July 4, leading some to claim she was a fake name on the ballot paper.
It has since been revealed that Burns lives in the East Midlands and stood in Glasgow North as a “paper candidate” because Scotland holds a “special place in [her] heart”.
Burns came fourth in the seat, winning 1655 votes. Labour’s Martin Rhodes was elected as MP, beating the SNP’s Alison Thewliss.
Speaking to The Telegraph from her home in Coalville – some 280 miles away from Glasgow – Burns said she “didn’t need” to visit the city ahead of the election.
“Hello, I am here and I do exist. I am a real person. All the people who stood for our party are really people,” she said.
“I stood for a constituency in Scotland as the country holds a very special place in my heart.
“We have travelled to many areas in Scotland over the past 20 years, and indeed got married in a small hunting lodge near Aviemore in 2019. This was featured in Scottish Wedding Magazine.”
Burns, who works as a PA for Reform and whose husband has “Scottish roots”, added: “A snap election had been called, and Reform, which I have officially represented since the start of the year, had hoped to have a candidate in every single constituency.
“Some hopeful candidates couldn’t stand because there wasn’t enough time to get the vetting.
“Our constituents were really upset in some areas asking why there wasn’t a Reform candidate representing them. I was a paper candidate and was given every opportunity to represent my constituency.
“But I didn’t go there, I didn’t need to. I have visited Glasgow many times in the past.”
Reform election agent has 'never met' Glasgow candidates
Burns is just one of several Reform candidates in Scotland who have minimal public presence.
The National previously tracked down the election agent for the Reform candidates who stood in Glasgow, who he admitted he has “never met”.
Gawain Towler, a spokesman for Reform UK, said that the suggestions that they had fielded fake candidates on the ballot papers were “preposterous”.
“It is as if people have never heard of paper candidates before, this has been a part of the British political system for longer than we have been alive,” he told The Telegraph.
He said that because the election was called at such short notice they had very little time to find candidates and even the Conservative Party, which called the poll, did not have a “full slate”.
After Rishi Sunak announced the date, Reform “called round and asked if there was anyone willing to stand as a paper candidate” and many agreed, he said.
“Why would we have put up fake candidates? If we wanted fake candidates then we would have put up a full slate, but we didn’t,” he said.
Reform stood a candidate in every seat in Scotland for the General Election. The party received 7% of the vote share across Scotland, winning 167,979 votes – more than the Scottish Greens.
