New Farage party targets Tory voters in local elections

NIGEL FARAGE’S new politi cal party already has over 3,000 applicants to stand as candidates in May’s local elections, in a move that will alarm Conservatives.

Reform UK – the expected new name for the Brexit Party – has been inundated with supporters offering to stand in the elections to the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, and English local elections in the 11 days since it was set up.

Mr Farage and Richard Tice, the party’s chairman, are also planning to put up candidates in the elections for policing and crime commissioners.

The anti-lockdown, low tax, progrowth political party will target next May’s local, regional and mayoral elections on a policy platform that will be presented to voters in a bid to attract disaffected Tory supporters. One party source said: “We are going to be standing in London Assembly, Scotl and, Wales, all of the police and crime commissioners, a big focus on law and order.

“There are 5,000 local council seats up for grabs and we are going to be targeting as many of those as possible.”

Mr Farage said that “threats to capital gains tax, the massive increase in the power of the state, government by diktat and a lockdown policy based on a dodgy dossier” could all drive support towards his relaunched political party.

Mr Tice is being urged to stand in the London mayoral race on a “pro-growth, get London back to work, stop London going bust agenda”, sources said.

Mr Tice told The Telegraph: “We are a force that is to be reckoned with next year, and what is extraordinary is the number of people who voted Conservative at the last election and are now saying ‘never again’.”