More bad news for personnel at the Baby Shard as Richard Tice announces he is jumping ship to GB news and will start as a presenter and contributor next week. Things remain tricky at TalkTV towers…
Guido can see why the Reform leader might want to depart the ailing broadcaster, especially as last night’s First Edition with Ian Collins brought on the wrong guest. To discuss whether class would play a role in the upcoming election, TalkTV producers had intended to bring on JL Partners’ neutral pollster Scarlett Maguire – but instead booked former Labour Party adviser Scarlett McGuire. It made for entertaining viewing. Still, at least they didn’t put the taxi driver on...
Conference season is looming, and with the Tories still 20 points behind Labour in the polls and the Chancellor refusing to budge on tax cuts, Guido hears Richard Tice’s Reform UK are capitalising on public dissatisfaction with its upcoming conference at the Hilton on 7th October. The tickets sold out five weeks in advance…
Attendance has doubled from last year and Guido hears that tickets for a schmoozy gala dinner, going for £125 a pop, have nearly all sold out as well. Money talks…
A Reform source tells Guido:
“We are happy that those who joined last year have seen fit to trust us, and stay with us, and more importantly are getting active, in the last week alone I’ve heard of local public meetings getting upwards of 50 attendees, this time last year we would have been pleased with 10…“
10 Reformers would be in a better mood than 100 Tories at the moment…
Richard Tice today braved the mean streets of Pimlico to offer protesting migrants a heartfelt apology. The irritated asylum seekers are kicking up a fuss over the standard of their Central London accommodation – with complaints centring on the size of the rooms, “too much smell” and poor Wi-Fi. Tice could only offer his heartfelt sympathies…
They’re camping outside the £155 per night Comfort Inn which, to Guido’s taste, doesn’t look too shabby.
The next time Guido’s in town, he might consider arriving via small boat to save on accommodation costs…
Reform UK’s “major announcement“ this morning hasn’t been universally well received. In particular, the few activists still clinging on to the remnants of UKIP certainly didn’t hold back. In a statement issued this morning, the party took aim at the “Crusty Wieners” in “Deform UK”. Guido doubts Richard Tice will be losing any sleep…
After publicly bragging that their overtures to Richard Tice have been “completely ignored”, the statement turned to more direct criticism:
“Today’s announcement is a reheated, best of British Sausage & Mash microwave meal; lumpy mash, dried up wieners and a bitter salty aftertaste!… Despite the endless 6-point plans, ego-massaging and lack of answers on policy, we learned nothing new about the floppy-haired, London-centric grifter company that continues to fragment our side of the political fence by design.”
They add “For the UK Independence Party, it’s very much business as usual.” Business as usual doesn’t go very far when you’re polling at 1%…
When Reform UK trailed a press conference for a “major announcement”, teased with the pledge “the band reforms”, there was only one thought on Guido’s mind. Well, Nigel Farage was up first, and he roundly rebuffed any speculation on that front – instead recommitting to his role as an honorary president on a purely advisory basis. This left Richard Tice to make his big announcement, that 11 former Brexit Party MEPs, including Ann Widdecombe and Ben Habib, were rejoining Reform UK ahead of the local elections. They’re planning to stand 630 candidates in the next General Election. Watch this space…
Tory MPs in talks with Richard Tice and Nigel Farage’s party to defect have been ongoing for many weeks, Guido understands.
Contrary to suggestions in an i exclusive on Monday, discussions occurred well before Liz Truss become PM, and weren’t necessarily sparked by Rishi Sunak’s ascension to No. 10. Guido’s not sure whether this will reassure or worry Rishi…
Two days ago, The i reported that Red Wall MPs are “being courted by the Reform Party as it seeks a wave of Ukip-style defections among dissatisfied Tories,” Tice told the paper:
“I think it’s fair to say, without saying too much, that there’s some very disaffected ‘Red Wall’, industrial heartland, Tory MPs who thought they were joining a Conservative Party and have found themselves in a socialist party. They’re very, very unhappy.”
Guido understands a handful are responding positively, given the ongoing migrant crisis and failures by the Government. If Farage does return to the fray, and the Government fails to address the migrant crisis effectively, Rishi could be facing a major headache.
