The man in charge of vetting Reform UK’s candidates for the next general election praised Hitler as ‘brilliant’.
Jack Aaron, who was the party’s candidate in Welwyn Hatfield in last year’s election, also made comments in the past calling Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad ‘gentle by nature’ and claimed Russia’s use of force in Ukraine was ‘legitimate’.
His shocking opinions first came to light during the election campaign which he defended by claiming there was a context and ‘nuances’ in the way he was viewing them through a psychological perspective.
Despite the scandal, Mr Aaron is now head of vetting for Reform UK.
The role includes studying prospective candidates’ social media outputs and advising them on what should be deleted.
It comes after more than 100 candidates were sacked or removed for offensive and racist comments.
In September, Nigel Farage announced that the party’s vetting process would be more rigorous to avoid a similar embarrassment at the next election which polls at the moment suggest Reform could win.
A spokesperson for Reform UK told the Guardian: ‘Mr Aaron is Jewish, and sits on his local synagogue council. His grandfather came to this country as a refugee from Vienna and much of his family on that side were murdered by Hitler’s regime.
Jack Aaron, who was Reform UK’s candidate in Welwyn Hatfield in last year’s election and is now in charge of vetting future candidates, praised Hitler as ‘brilliant’ in the past
Party leader Nigel Farage with his three of his five MPs, Lee Anderson, Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe, outside Parliament in July 2024
Mr Aaron’s shocking opinions first came to light during the election campaign which he defended by claiming there was a context and ‘nuances’ in which he was viewing them through a psychological perspective
‘Reform UK does not disclose details of our internal vetting process and nor staff members involved.’
Mr Aaron came third in Welwyn Hatfield with just over 13 per cent of the vote and finished behind the defeated Tory minister, Grant Shapps.
According to his LinkedIn page he is a business psychologist, consultant, YouTuber, coach, relationship counsellor and matchmaker.
It adds that he set up the World Socionics Society – a group promoting the idea that there are 16 personality types – which started as a Facebook group.
Mr Aaron claimed his comments about dictators as part of a pseudoscientific theory of personality types.
In a post on social media in 2022, Mr Aaron said Hitler was ‘brilliant in using Fe+Ni [socionics personality traits] to inspire people into action’.
Days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he said that those who called Putin insane ‘do not understand him and limit their ability to oppose him’.
He added: ‘The motivation to acquire and wield force is legitimate, and there is a whole group of personality types inclined to this, and they have historically shaped the world we live in.’
In a comment on Reddit, he said that Assad was ‘gentle by nature’ and not ‘some bloodthirsty tyrant who exercises control over his people with an iron fist’.
He also claimed the Syrian dictator had been ‘led astray’ by social stereotyping.
MailOnline have approached Reform UK and Mr Aaron for a comment.
