Reform U.K. has categorically ruled out striking a General Election pact with the Conservative Party, with leader Richard Tice saying he believes voters want to “punish the Tories for breaking Britain” and that the Conservatives were “terrified” by the threat posed by his party. The Telegraph has more.
He said there would be “no special deals” to stand aside in certain constituencies to give incumbent Tory MPs a better chance of keeping their seats.
Mr. Tice told reporters at a press conference in central London this morning: “I can be absolutely categoric that we are not doing any deals with the Tories. We will stand everywhere in England, Scotland, Wales, absolutely.”
There have been suggestions that Reform U.K. candidates could take crucial votes away from the Tories, potentially clearing the way for Labour to seize numerous seats.
Richard Holden, the Chairman of the Conservative Party, warned in response to Mr. Tice’s remarks that “a vote for Reform will only strengthen Labour’s hand”.
At a press conference in central London this morning, Mr. Tice added that Nigel Farage – his predecessor as leader when the party was still known as the Brexit Party – is “still assessing” whether to make a return to the political frontline.
Mr. Tice said Mr. Farage is the “master of political timing” and the more help he could offer the party “the better”.
He is obviously giving a lot of thought as to the extent of the role that he wants to play in helping Reform U.K. frankly save Britain. And he is still assessing that and as and when we have all collectively come to a decision obviously we look forward to letting everybody know.
I am not a poker player but I know that a good poker player doesn’t show their hand too early. Nigel is the master of political timing. But I am very clear, the job at hand is so big, to save Britain, the more help that Nigel is able to give in the election campaign, frankly the better, because the crisis facing the country… is really, really serious.
However, Professor Sir John Curtice has predicted Reform U.K. will not win a single seat at the next General Election.
The polling guru said that, much like Nigel Farage’s former vehicle UKIP at the 2015 election, Reform would not gain any MPs under the first-past-the-post electoral system – even if it picked up millions of votes.
“I’m not anticipating that Reform would pick up anything anywhere,” he said.
Sir John went on to suggest the growing popularity of Reform, which is currently polling at around 10%, could harm Labour as well as the Tories at the ballot box.
“I suspect that Reform is not just a challenge to the Tories, it’s also potentially a challenge to Labour in that if Reform becomes a repository of protest for unhappy Conservative voters, some of those may be people who, but for Reform’s apparent increased profile, might have otherwise switched to Labour.”
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