NIGEL Farage today unveiled 29 councillors have defected to Reform ahead of showdown local elections in May.
Mr Farage dismissed “boring” claims of a bitter civil war in the party as he insisted his support base is “broadening and deepening across the country”.
Reform leader Nigel Farage and Chairman Zia Yusuf unveil 29 new council defections[/caption]
Nigel Farage answers a question from The Sun’s Noa Hoffman[/caption]
Reform was plunged into turmoil this month after it split with Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe.
At a London press conference Mr Farage admitted the saga had caused “some consternation” but that it was limited to “the edges” of the party membership.
The Reform boss said: “You might have noticed that we have been through a little bit of turbulence over the course of the last couple of weeks.
“Has it caused some consternation? Of course it has – any argument that’s seen to happen within the family does, but I can promise you that in terms of our progress and our planning, that upset is very much at the edges.”
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Mr Farage blasted accusations by Mr Lowe that he was booted out of the party because he threatened to overshadow its leader.
The Reform chief said that politicians who are kicked out “normally do it to themselves”.
Mr Farage also accused some online supporters of Mr Lowe of “outright, overt racism” towards chairman Zia Yusuf.
ANALYSIS
By Noa Hoffman, Political Correspondent
NIGEL Farage was all smiles today as he tried to move Reform’s narrative away from one of internal rows and chaos.
The party leader unveiled 29 councillor defections in a bid to prove he hasn’t lost momentum and isn’t disturbed by the noise surrounding his split with the terminally-online Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe.
But 29 new town hall contenders won’t be enough to kill the biggest Reform story in Westminster.
In the build up to today’s London press conference, the party promised big news.
While dozens of local defections is no mean feat it doesn’t come close to the impact of a sitting MP crossing the floor.
And some of the most interesting comments to come from the presser came back to the row with Mr Lowe.
The story will move on eventually.
But for Mr Farage to prove once and for all that momentum is still with him he will need to announce something a bit more “rabbit out of the hat” next time.
He said: “I’m appalled by some of the things that have been said about our chairman.
“It’s awful, pretty nasty stuff.”
Among Reform’s 29 fresh council recruits, 15 are former Tories.
An additional 13 sat on town halls as independents, with one having originally been elected under Labour.
And one new councillor crossed the floor from the Lib Dems.
Asked by The Sun whether he expects to see defections from Labour in the near future, Mr Farage responded: “I think you are going to see in the Midlands and the North this year, and next year in South Wales and Scotland, Labour councillors thinking Reform is the answer.”
Nigel Farage made the announcement today[/caption]
