Fact check: Fake AI-edited image of Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin circulates online

This fact check has been written by Full Fact, the UK’s largest fact checking charity working to find, expose and counter the harms of bad information.

An image of Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin on the campaign trail has been edited to change the supporters she’s standing with.

Ms Pochin posted the original photograph showing her out campaigning with the local Reform UK Halton team on Facebook and Instagram on April 12. In this photo the group of supporters appears to be white.

Within hours, an edited version of the image now showing Ms Pochin with a different group of seemingly Asian people was being shared online.

When we ran the fake version through Google’s large language model (LLM) Gemini it told us it had a SynthID digital watermark, indicating it was altered using Google AI tools.

Nonsensical text on the leaflets in the edited version also suggest it was manipulated with AI.

Head of local government delivery for Reform UK, Ben Bradley, confirmed on X that the image was fake. Full Fact also contacted Ms Pochin and Reform UK for comment.

Comments underneath the fake photo, such as “I’ve just gone off Reform UK after seeing this picture”, suggest people think it is genuine.

The earliest version of the edited image we could find online was posted by an account that has shared several fake and edited images of Reform UK politicians. We’ve attempted to contact the account for comment.