Nigel Farage Dismisses Reform Candidate’s ‘Nazi Salute’ Photo

Nigel Farage dismissed a photo of a Reform UK candidate appearing to perform a Nazi salute by describing it as a “Fawlty Towers impression”.

Corey Edwards is Reform’s lead candidate for the Pen-y Bont Bro Morgannwg constituency in May’s Senedd election.

A photo of Edwards appearing to replicate the offensive salute recently resurfaced, though the date and location of the image are unknown.

While launching his party’s local election campaign, Reform Party leader told ITV News that his candidate was doing a “Fawlty Towers impression”.

He said: “The context I have been told, it was taking a Basil Fawlty sketch, and that’s why he did it. He’s a human being.”

Asked if Edwards would remain a candidate, he said: “I get the point – it looks terrible. Things in isolation often do. I wouldn’t approve of it.”

He then compared the incident to what he described “far more serious” case of a Plaid Cymru candidate withdrawing from the race over an offensive social media post from more than a decade ago.

Edwards also issued a statement saying the photo had been “misinterpreted” and that he had made “mistakes”.

“There is a clear distinction between ordinary use of the appalling gesture, compared with me imitating a Welsh footballer’s use of it, or indeed Basil Fawlty’s walk,” the Reform candidate said.

“The Nazi regime was the most barbaric ever and I’d never make light of nor dilute its seriousness.”

A Reform UK spokesperson also told ITV Wales: “We’re not willing to write people off forever because of mistakes they made when they were young.”

The incident is the latest drama threatening to overshadow Reform’s campaign in the run-up to the local elections.

Farage already had to publicly defend Reform’s Scottish leader, Malcolm Offord, after an offensive homophobic joke he made a rugby club dinner in 2018 resurfaced.

Offord later apologised and denied he was homophobic.

At his party launch in Sunderland this week, Farage said: “If we’re going to drum people out of public life for telling a joke at a boozy rugby club dinner that’s amongst friends, we’ll finish up with the dullest group of individuals, looking a bit like, sounding a bit like Keir Starmer.”

He added: “When you take something as it is, yeah, of course it looks awful.”

However Farage said Offord “probably regretted doing it” even on the night, and accused critics of adopting a “po-faced purism attitude”.

Reform also had to drop its mayoral candidate for the Hampshire and Solent 2028 election, Chris Parry, this week, after he compared a Jewish community group to “Islamists on horseback”.