Reform candidate defends calling Putin 'very good'

Julian Malins is standing as the Reform UK candidate in Salisbury

A Reform UK general election candidate who described Russian president Vladimir Putin as "very good" has clarified his comments.

When asked about remarks he gave at a hustings event, Julian Malins said the leader was a "good Russian president" but not a good man "in the Christian sense".

Mr Malins is standing to be MP in Salisbury, a Wiltshire city where a woman was poisoned and later died after a suspected Russian nerve agent attack.

Leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, said he did not agree with the original comment, but he did not want party candidates to be told what to think.

Mr Malins told a hustings event on Sunday he had met Mr Putin, the Salisbury Journal reported.

"I have actually met Putin and had a 10-minute chat with him, and he seemed very good," Mr Malins reportedly said.

When asked about the comments by BBC Radio Wiltshire, he said: "He's a very popular Russian president - as such, he's a good Russian president.

"It doesn't follow in the Christian sense he's a good man, of course not."

'A wicked act'

BBC Radio Wiltshire asked Mr Malins about his remarks in context of the 2018 Salisbury nerve-agent attack.

He said: "The poisoning was a wicked act, unquestionably, and caused immense damage to this city."

The Kremlin has always denied any responsibility for the attack.

Speaking about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mr Malins said Mr Putin needed to be involved in negotiations to end the war and called for "diplomacy".

He talked about the thousands of people being killed and wounded and said "the adults in the room should be negotiating, not escalating".

"He's the president of the country with the largest land mass on the planet.

"Simply to categorise him as a wicked person with whom we can't deal is absurd," Mr Malins added.

Responding to the candidate's initial comments calling Mr Putin "very good", Mr Farage said: "I don't agree with it, but do I want a political party to be full of nodding donkeys who were told what they must and must not think? No I don't."

It is not the first time the party leader has had to address comments made by candidates.

Melksham & Devizes candidate Malcolm Cupis described women dancing in a music video in derogatory terms on social media, calling one a "malignant old hag".

Mr Cupis told the BBC he stood by his comments.

He said of the video: “This disgusting performance should not be available to… children. It demeans girls and encourages misogyny in boys.”

Responding to Mr Cupis' language, Nigel Farage said: "It's not polite, but you've got to remember something: we're a start-up and we're going to have one or two candidates who are a bit rough round the edges."

"All political parties have these problems," he added.

• You can see a full list of candidates for the Salisbury constituency here.

• You can see a full list of candidates for the Melksham and Devizes constituency here.