Nigel Farage is holding a press conference at the Royal Horseguards hotel to announce ‘defections’. He’s welcoming 29 new councillors ahead of the May local elections, in which Reform hopes to win 200 council seats. Still waiting on who Reform’s Runcorn by-election candidate will be…
Watch live as Reform UK holds a press conference attended by Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson, James McMurdock and Zia Yusuf https://t.co/1N0AfSEE3d
— PA Media (@PA) March 17, 2025
Of the 29 new Reform councillors, 15 are former Tories, ten are former Independents, one is a former Lib Dem, one is a former Residents for Uttlesford and one is a former ‘Independent Labour’. Reform are holding their campaign launch rally in Birmingham next Friday…
UPDATE: The Tories have done some digging into these ‘new’ councillors. They claim that only 7 of the 29 unveiled today are ‘new’, with 22 of them having been announced more than five weeks ago. Two of the Tory councillors had already been deselected by the party, while one left the Tories over a year ago. A Tory source said:
“This sham announcement from Fake Farage looks like a desperate attempt to distract from the open warfare at the top of Reform. It’s no wonder former Reform UK MP and leadership contender Rupert Lowe described the Party as a ‘malicious circus’ and questioned Farage’s abilities. Announcements falling apart under scrutiny is typical Reform – they are all spin and no substance, and will always put self-interest ahead of the national interest.”
Punchy…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”