Reform admits it won't stand in every UK General Election seat after embarrassing admin error
Reform UK has been forced to admit the party won't be standing in every seat in the UK.
And Nigel Farage will be cancelling his GB News TV show during the election campaign, so he can help out with campaigning, party leader Richard Tice has claimed.
It comes just hours after figurehead Nigel Farage announced he wouldn't stand for the party in the General Election. Deputy leader Ben Habib told a press conference launching Reform's election campaign the party would not field candidates in Northern Ireland because it had not registered in time.
He said: "We were in the process of registering a political party in Northern Ireland...but I'm afraid this election has come on us faster than anticipated - so we haven't been able to register Reform UK in Northern Ireland." Instead the party will form an alliance with the Northern Ireland's Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party, and stand mutually agreed candidates.
Nigel Farage won't stand, but will be involved in campaigning
The TUV has one seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly and none in the House of Commons. Later Mr Tice vowed to stand in all 631 remaining seats in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - and had selected 500 candidates so far. We've got 500 approved and allocated," he said. "And we've got 100 more in the vetting process."
He said Mr Farage would be "helping out significantly" in the campaign - and that he would be stepping down from his GB News show during the six week campaign. "There's no-one better at campaigning than Nigel," he said. "Whether it's bus tours, knocking on doors, rallies, everything. He'll be there." He added: "He's not doing any TV presenting during the whole period. He won't be presenting GB News, he didn't do it last night."
Mr Tice claimed Rishi Sunak had "bottled it" by calling a summer election instead of holding on for the autumn. He said the Prime Minister was "absolutely terrified" by his party's upward progress in the polls at a time when the Tories have slumped. He was terrified as to where this may end up," Mr Tice said. Reform is averaging around 11% in the polls, ahead of the Liberal Democrats.
The party leader, who is standing in the Boston and Skegness constituency, said: "Contrary to what all the commentators say, the likes of my good friend Lee Anderson and myself, we are going to win seats." During his speech Mr Tice hit out at high levels of net migration, establishment "experts" and the "weak, feeble politicians who have broken Britain".
The launch came as official data indicated net migration levels are estimated to have stood at 685,000 in 2023, down on 2022's record but still high by historic standards. Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe told the Reform UK event: "The crucial issue in this forthcoming General Election is going to be immigration, and the impact that it is having."
She added: "Having been in the Home Office, and having been admittedly a long time ago immigration minister, I know very well that immigration has a tremendous impact on the country. There is no such thing as an economic movement which doesn't impact right across the scale."
She said it had an impact on the health service, housing, and infrastructure, adding: "That is what we are now facing, and that is why uncontrolled immigration is at the root of so much that is going wrong." High-profile Conservative figures including Lord Cameron, Boris Johnson and James Cleverly featured in a campaign video played after her speech, which blamed the Tories for not fulfilling their promises on migration. Lee Anderson, who defected to Reform earlier this year, was on the front row of the event, but did not give a speech.