ITV News says one of its undercover reporters was asked if he would consider standing to be a councillor, after spending time leafleting with Reform activists.
He meets with the chairman of a local Reform branch in Chester, Ian Frost, who describes the meeting as “the first stage” of the vetting process.
After the reporter says he has previously posted in support of Robinson on social media, Frost advises him to delete the posts.
“Anything where you’ve got, things, Tommy Robinson or anything like that, okay, I would delete the account and I’d start again,” Frost adds.
Farage has said Robinson would not be allowed to join Reform.
Frost later suggests the undercover reporter could apply to stand for the party, saying: “You might become a councillor. You might then want to go to the MP route. So, social media, yeah. And apply.”
Frost told ITV News he thought the reporter was a genuine candidate and gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He added that it was not fair to judge people on a single conversation and he had since left Reform for unrelated reasons.
In another part of the film, a former Reform candidate – Alex Lomas – claims he failed the party’s vetting process twice, including for sharing social media posts from Robinson.
However, Lomas says a few days after he failed for the second time he was asked to stand for the party.
“On my second application, I got declined on the Friday, I got an email from them on the Tuesday saying you’ve passed vetting,” he is recorded as saying.
“I said, well, I think you better check with your paperwork, mate, because I’ve just failed on Friday. Now, you’re saying I’ve passed it, I’ve not changed anything.
“And then I got a phone call a few days later. Hi, will you stand for Reform UK? I’m like, yeah okay.”
He stood for Reform in local elections in Oldham in May but did not win a seat on the council.
The BBC has not been able to contact Lomas and he did not respond to requests for comment from ITV News.
Reform denies Lomas failed vetting in the first place.
