As Reform UK gathers for a major rally today, leader Richard Tice tells the Daily Express his general election message is “bring it on”.
The insurgent party has been buoyed by coming third in two crunch by-elections, while it has hit a record high of 13% in national opinion polls.
Speaking to the Express at a private members’ club in Westminster ahead of Reform’s spring conference in Doncaster, the businessman took aim at both Labour and the Conservatives as he insisted it is “onwards and upwards”.
Echoing one of Nigel Farage’s famous speeches to the European Parliament, Mr Tice said: “Three years ago we were on 1% everyone was laughing at us, well the Tories are not laughing now.”
The party, of which Mr Farage is honorary president, has vowed to stand candidates in every constituency in Great Britain.
Pollsters say Reform could struggle to win seats outright due to the first past the post electoral system, but it is expected to cost the Conservatives.
Mr Tice, who plans to stand in the northern seat of Hartlepool, said: “Course we can. The reality is yes it’s difficult but we’re standing everywhere, 630 seats, we’ve got well over 400 already allocated, hundreds more going through the process.
“What I say is the more people that vote for us then the more chance we’ve got of winning seats.”
Mr Tice said he could “120%” rule out any electoral deal with the Conservatives.
And he rejected Tory warnings that a vote for Reform, formerly the Brexit Party, will help put Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in No 10.
He said: “No a vote for Reform is a vote to save Britain. A vote for the Tories is the same as a vote for Labour.
“It’s a vote for disaster, catastrophe, socialism, high taxes, more wasteful government spending, mass immigration, pro net zero, it’s a vote for the destruction of the country, it’s as simple as that. So if you want to save Britain, vote Reform.”
Mr Tice said there is “anger amongst ordinary folk about the state of the country”.
He said: “There’s no love for Keir Starmer, there’s just a deep rejection and utter fury with the toxic Tories.”
He also pitched Reform as the “party of workers” as he branded Sir Keir’s party “latte Labour”.
He said: “Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are happy to take the knee and don’t know what a woman is, it’s insane.”
Reform will unveil what it is describing as a contract setting out its plans at today’s event.
Mr Tice said: “This is a really big moment. It shows everybody we’re ready for a May election, bring it on.
“There’s going to be some big surprised in there and millions of people will be very excited by it and the woke liberal left will be enraged by it.
“And that’s great because it will force them to attack us and that means they’ll be coming onto our ground, for the first time they’ll really recognise that we exist and we’re a threat to their agenda. So it’s a really significant moment and I’m very proud of it.”
Policies the party has already set out include mirroring Australia’s tough approach to illegal immigration, a “one in, one out” approach on legal migration, raising the tax-free personal allowance to £20,000, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and nationalising 50% of key utility companies.
There has been ongoing speculation over whether Mr Farage will make a return to frontline politics following his stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
Mr Tice said: “Nigel is at the moment very busy with a variety of things, GB News, he’s in America this week with the most likely next US President and he’s giving it a lot of thought.
“But I’m very clear, the more help he can give the better. It’s a massive job to try and turn this country around. So yes I hope he feels able to get stuck in but it’s a question of degree and time relative to his other commitments and let’s wait and see.”
But he dismissed suggestions Mr Farage could join the Conservative Party as “complete nonsense”.
Mr Tice also played down talk of a comeback by charismatic former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Asked whether the prospect would worry Reform, which is attracting dissatisfied 2019 Tory voters, he said: “Who knows if he wants to come back, let’s wait and see.
“But also I think Boris’s stock is not what it was. He’s still got his fans and rightly so, but equally many people feel utterly let down and betrayed by him.
“I suspect the Tory Party regrets kicking him out, they were in a much better position then. But the reality is a lot of the problems with the country were set in stone when he was prime minister.”
Looking ahead to next Thursday’s by-election in Rochdale, Mr Tice said he was confident it could be “better still” than Wellingborough and Kingswood earlier this month where the party secured 13% and 10% of votes respectively.
Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk is standing for Reform against firebrand George Galloway in the Lancashire town, while Sir Keir was forced to cut ties with his candidate Azhar Ali following an antisemitism row.
Mr Tice said: “We’re now polling and achieving as the third largest political party which is a really significant thing.”
