Reform UK has “categorically” ruled out a deal with the Tories at the 2024 general election as Nigel Farage appears to have ducked an eighth bid to become an MP.
In a move that piles yet more pressure on Rishi Sunak, Reform leader Richard Tice vowed to field candidates in every constituency in England, Wales and Scotland.
Speaking at the party’s election campaign launch on Wednesday, he insisted Reform would not do a deal with the Conservatives under any circumstances. In 2019, the group – called the Brexit Party at the time – stood down hundreds of candidates to help Boris Johnson secure a majority.
Mr Tice gave the strongest hint yet that his predecessor Mr Farage will take on a frontline role in the election campaign, though the latter was notably absent from the launch.
“He is still assessing that… a good poker player does not show their hand too early,” Mr Tice told reporters. Discussions are ongoing about what role Mr Farage may take, he said, though it looks increasingly unlikely he will make an eighth bid to become an MP. Mr Tice told GB News Mr Farage standing as a candidate was “the least likely thing”.
The Conservatives have been warned they risk losing tens of seats if Reform stands across the country in the election, due to take place sometime this year. The return of Mr Farage, back in Britain after a stint on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here could provide a significant poll boost for Reform, adding to Tory losses.
The upstart party is hoping to capitalise on growing anger at record levels of legal migration and Mr Sunak’s failure to deliver on a pledge to “stop the boats” of migrants crossing the English Channel.
At a conference setting out Reform’s stall to voters, leader Mr Tice laid into Mr Sunak as a failure and said the Tories have broken Britain.
Channelling Mr Farage’s Brexit victory speech to the European parliament, Mr Tice said that when he launched Reform, “the Tories laughed at me”. He added: “They’re not laughing now.”
Luke Tryl, director at pollsters More in Common, has said Reform’s campaign could see the Tories lose more than 30 additional seats.
He told The Independent: “Reform could well be the difference between a hung parliament and a Labour majority.”
The party is currently polling at around 9 per cent and has already helped to derail two key Tory by-election campaigns, with its share of the vote in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth bigger than Labour’s majorities in the seats.
On Tuesday, outspoken Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson admitted he fears Reform “picking off” scores of Conservative MPs, opening the door to a Labour landslide.
He warned that Mr Farage’s party is a threat, adding that they are a “bigger threat to the country at the moment than the Labour Party”.
Mr Tice said his Tory rival is “a nice guy”, but is “terrified we are going to put him out of a job”. He urged the top Tory to ditch the “toxic” party and “come on over” to Reform.
And Mr Tice revealed that Tory party figures from councillors to donors are in talks with Reform about defecting to the party ahead of the general election. “A lot of very disgruntled former Tory donors are picking up the phone and saying, ‘how can I help?’” he added.
Responding after Mr Tice’s press conference, Tory chair Richard Holden said a vote for Reform will only strengthen Labour’s hand and he defended the Conservatives as “focused on long-term decisions for the country”.
Elsewhere in the conference, Mr Tice confirmed that his deputy leader Ben Habib would contest the Wellingborough by-election for the party following the recall of scandal-hit MP Peter Bone.
Mr Bone held the Northamptonshire seat for the Tories in 2019 with 18,540 more votes than second-placed Labour.
Mr Habib told the conference: “The reason I am standing in Wellingborough is because it is not sufficient to simply beat the Tories… we have to lead the way and get seats in Parliament.”
He set out a target for the party to win a dozen or more seats at the next general election, adding that people are extremely upset with the current government. Reform said it will announce its candidates for the general election next month.
The party also took aim at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, branding “Starmergeddon” a “threat near you in 2024”. Reform is seeking to attack Labour as well as the Tories amid fears it risks handing Sir Keir the keys to Downing Street.
