Three Reform candidates quit in one Welsh constituency. 2 days ago. David Deans,Wales political reporterand. Gareth Lewis,Wales political editor. BBC. It is unclear who will represent Reform in the Senedd constituency covering Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan, after three of its six election candidates quit.. A Reform source confirmed that Derek Roberts, who was the party’s second on the list in Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg, has stood down for “personal reasons” that have not been made public.. The party’s sixth candidate, Owain Clatworthy, has left in protest at the selection process. Both decisions emerged after Corey Edwards, the first candidate on the list, stood down last week after a photo appeared to show him performing a Nazi salute.. Reform told the BBC it would present a full list for the election, taking place on 7 May.. The party has not announced who will replace the three. Nominations close on 9 April.. In total the party has lost four candidates across Wales in one week – while two had pulled out before Reform’s lists were published.. As first and second on the list, Corey Edwards and Derek Roberts had the best chance of being elected for their party in the constituency.. A Reform source said that Roberts, who is ex-military, had “stepped back for personal reasons but remains an active champion for veterans in his community”.. Owain Clatworthy. Owain Clatworthy was selected for sixth place on the list in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg, and had been elected as a councillor in Bridgend last year.. But he announced he was leaving Reform in a post on social media, telling readers that “recent events, including poor internal decision making, a lack of discipline and serious concerns around candidate selection, have made it clear to me that Reform UK is no longer operating in a way that reflects the standards I believe the public deserve”.. He accused the party of selecting individuals “with little or no connection to the communities they seek to represent”.. Speaking to BBC Wales, Clatworthy said: “The country is in a mess and it’s easy to complain and I thought Reform were the answer.. “From day one, up until now, the way I have been treated, and members and other councillors have been treated by the leadership team, is not good.”. He alleged that the party had poorly vetted candidates – adding the picture of Edwards “really did it for me. I can’t support a party that would be happy to back something like that”.. “It sends the wrong message and it became a distraction,” he said, adding that he had not cared about his sixth place selection and had been happy to support the party.. Nigel Farage had defended Edwards over the salute photograph, claiming that he had been impersonating Basil Fawlty. Edwards quit the next day.. Under the new voting system parties are required to table lists of candidates for each of the Senedd’s 16 constituencies.. While candidates listed lower than third place are less likely to get elected, parties still need at le
