Nigel Farage has called upon all local Conservative Party councillors to defect and join his populist Reform UK party ahead of the English county council elections next May, arguing that the Tory brand is “broken” after numerous betrayals.
The Brexit boss sent a letter to all 1,352 Conservative councillors in England offering them an opportunity to join the ranks of the rising power that is Reform UK as it wages its first truly national election campaign. At present, Reform has 28 local councillors.
In a video address, Mr Farage said that a “huge number” of local Tories align more with his Reform party, arguing that “the Conservative Party in the country is very different to the Conservative Party in Westminster.”
As opposed to the 2019 general election when Farage’s Brexit Party made an election pact with Boris Johnson’s Tories to stand down in constituencies to ensure a majority to ‘get Brexit done’, the Reform leader said that his party would be put forward a candidate for every local council contest in May.
Offering a “lifeline” to potential defectors, Mr Farage said: “You know in your heart of hearts that this is four years on from peak Boris when the Conservative Party was doing well, and you know that the vast majority of you are going to lose your seats.”
“But before I select the candidates… I want to give those county councillors who really believe in the country, who understand and know that things need to be turned around — because we’re in such a state of decline — I want to give them the opportunity to come and join us and stand for Reform UK. I think it’s the right and decent thing to do,” he added.
The Reform UK leader gave the councillors a deadline to decide of before the end of next month when the party will select its candidates. Farage said that although his party will not “take anybody”, saying that those who are not “suitable” or who “wish to bring their own brand of Tory in-fighting” will not be accepted into the fold.
The letter comes a little over a week before the next leader of the Conservative Party will be announced after an interminable process that began in July and will see either former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch or ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick replace failed PM Rishi Sunak at the helm of the party.
Mr Farage argued that who wins the contest is irrelevant, saying that “the brand is broken, it’s done,” adding that “you can’t betray people consistently election after election, manifesto after manifesto without a massive price to pay.”
The local elections in May will represent the first major test for Farage’s populist party, which seeks to replace the Tories as the country’s leading right-wing party and to potentially challenge Labour for government control in the 2029 general election.
Despite being wrong-footed by Rishi Sunak’s decision to call an early snap election in July, leaving Reform only a few weeks to draft candidates, the party saw a strong performance with Farage’s return to frontline politics.
The party won over 4.1 million votes, coming in third place behind the Tories and Labour. However, due to the first-past-the-post voting system, Reform’s 14 per cent of the vote only equated to five MPs compared to 121 for the Tories on a 23.7 per cent finish.
Nevertheless, Reform had a strong showing, finishing second place in 98 other constituencies. This means that the upstart party may be within striking distance of becoming a major contender in the next election.
Since the July election, the Farage party has continued to surge. A survey earlier this month from More in Common saw Reform climb to 21 per cent support, the highest level ever recorded by the polling firm.