‘I very much exist’ says Reform candidate after internet sleuths claim she is fake

The Reform UK candidate for Glasgow North has been forced to insist “I do indeed exist” after internet sleuths claimed she was fake.

A social media conspiracy sprang up about Helen Burns after voters could find no social media presence linking her to Reform and she failed to appear on the election trail or at the count.

Some claimed that she was a fake name on the ballot paper.

Speaking from her home in the East Midlands, Mrs Burns admitted to The Telegraph that she was a “paper candidate” who did not campaign but said she wanted to stand in Scotland because it holds a “special place in my heart”.

Maybe voters were able to sense her love for the country as she came fourth in the seat, 280 miles away from her home in Coalville, getting more than 1,600 votes.

Not the only one accused of being fake

She is one of a number who has been accused of being a “ghost candidates” for Nigel Farage’s party after their pages on the party website contained no photographs, generic contact details, they had no obvious social media presence and they were not seen on the election trail.

Reform UK says that it is “absurd” to suggest that any of the 609 candidates it put up for last week’s election were not real.

Earlier this week, Mark Matlock, the party’s unsuccessful nominee in Clapham and Brixton Hill, south-west London, released a video of himself dancing in order to silence conspiracy theories that he was AI generated.

When traced by this newspaper to her detached new-build home in Leicestershire, Mrs Burns was equally defiant.

A PA for Reform whose husband has Scottish roots, Mrs Burns told The Telegraph: “Hello, I am here and I do exist. I am a real person. All the people who stood for our party are really people.”

In a statement to her doubters, she added: “You may have seen the fake news spread by media outlets over the past few days, claiming I don’t exist. I do, indeed very much exist.”

She said that she stood for Reform as she believed in Nigel Farage and his vision for the county.

“I stood for a constituency in Scotland as the country holds a very special place in my heart,” she explained. “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.

“I believe in Britain, and I believe Britain needs reform.”

‘Nigel in drag?’

The search for Mrs Burns began after internet sleuths were unable to find any information about her online or a social media presence linking her to Reform UK.

Users asked whether Mr Farage’s party had a “random Scottish name generator” to create fake individuals to put on the ballot paper, an accusation that would have amounted to electoral fraud.

As they were still unable to locate the candidate, she was given an almost mythical status, with one user saying: “Helen Burns is the friends we made along the way.”

Scottish comedian Kim Blythe made a series of videos about her search for Mrs Burns, suggesting that she could be “Nigel in drag” or the “masked singer”.

In a third video, Ms Blythe travelled to London, joking that the trip was a mission to locate the candidate. She filmed herself calling out “Helen” in Westminster and went to Reform UK’s nearby address, only to discover that it was a “virtual office”.

Even Mrs Burns’ rivals for the Glasgow North seat joined in the hunt.

Iris Duane, who stood for the Greens, joked that “she was in me all along” when footage emerged of the camera panning to focus on her when Mrs Burns’ share of the vote was announced at the Glasgow Emirates Arena.

Ms Blythe said that this proved that “we are all Helen”.

Daniel O’Malley, the Liberal Democrat candidate, used a Spartacus reference and announced: “I’m Helen Burns”.

“I would like to address the Helen Burns in the room …. or lack thereof. No she was not at the count or any of the hustings, even the one chaired by John Curtice,” Mr O’Malley told social media users.

“Questions need to be asked about the legitimacy of [Reform UK]. This is about trust in our election process.”

He neglected to mention the fact that even in the face of her absence he had won fewer votes than Mrs Burns – 1,142 to her 1,655.

‘Why would we have put up fake candidates?’

Mrs Burns, a mother of two and grandma of two, explained: “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.”

Gawain Towler, a Reform UK spokesman, said that the suggestions that they had fielded fake candidates on the ballot papers, which require both local election agents and 10 nomination signatures, 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 Tory 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.