Nigel Farage has urged all local Tory MPs to defect from the party ahead of next May's UK county council elections, claiming the Conservative party's brand is “broken” after repeated betrayals and calling for his own populist Reform UK. He called on them to join the party.
The Brexit chief has written to all 1,352 of Britain's Conservative MPs, offering them the chance to join the ranks of Reform Britain, an upstart group running its first true national election campaign. Reform currently has 28 local councilors.
In a video address, Mr Farage said a “huge number” of local Conservatives were aligned with the Reform Party, claiming “the Conservative Party in this country is very different from the Conservative Party in Westminster”.
This is in contrast to the 2019 general election, when Mr Farage's Brexit Party made a campaign promise with Boris Johnson's Conservative Party to withdraw in constituencies to secure a majority to “deliver Brexit”. In a statement, the reformist leader said his party would field candidates in every constituency. Local council contest in May.
Mr Farage offered a “lifeline” to potential defectors, saying: “Deep down I'm sure you know, and I'm sure the majority of you will, that it's been four years since the peak of the Conservative Party's run with Boris.” Please lose. ”
“But before we choose a candidate…I would like to ask our county legislators who really believe in this country and understand that we need to turn things around because we are in such a state of decline that they We want to give to our people.'' Please come and join us and give us the opportunity to support a reforming Britain. I think that's the right and decent thing to do,” he added.
The Reform UK leader has given MPs a deadline by the end of next month to decide when the party will select its candidate. Mr Farage said his party would “not accept anyone” but would not accept anyone who was “unfit” or who “wanted to take my brand of the Conservative Party into civil war”.
The letter was submitted just over a week before the next leader of the Conservative Party was to be announced after an endless process that began in July, with former equalizer Kemi Badenoch set to replace failed chancellor Rishi Sunak. Either the Minister or former Immigration Secretary Robert Jenrick will be appointed. the party's helmsman.
Mr Farage insisted it didn't matter who won, saying: “The brand is broken, it's over,” adding: “If we don't pay a huge price, we will betray the people with election after election, manifesto after manifesto. I can't do that,” he added.
Local elections in May will be the first major test for Mr Farage's populist party. The party aims to replace the Conservatives as the country's leading right-wing party and potentially challenge Labor for control of government in the 2029 general election.
Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early snap election in July turned out to be a misnomer, with the Reform Party having just weeks left to nominate a candidate, but Farage's The party performed well in its return to front-line politics.
The party received more than 4.1 million votes, coming in third place behind the Conservatives and Labor. However, due to the first-past-the-post voting system, the reformers received 14% of the vote and only five members, while the Conservatives received 23.7% of the vote and 121 members.
Despite this, Reform performed well, finishing second in 98 other constituencies. This means that the emerging party may be close enough to become a major candidate in the next election.
Since then, Farage's party continued to advance in the July elections. A More in Common poll earlier this month found reformers up to 21%. The approval rating is the highest level ever recorded by the polling company.
