Another day, another election campaign drama. Now it’s Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party in the limelight with more candidate controversy. Only this time it’s not the party defending contentious comments. Instead, one of the party’s candidates has turned on Reform. Oo er.
Liam Booth-Isherwood, formerly a Reform candidate for Erewash, has today disowned the party over allegations of racism. The former Farage man has instead decided to endorse the Conservative party, backing the Tory contender – Maggie Throup – in the election.
‘Over the past few weeks, I have been increasingly disillusioned with the behaviour and conduct of Reform,’ Booth-Isherwood claimed in a statement, adding:
Whilst I have campaigned alongside many decent, honest and hardworking people during the course of the general election campaign in Erewash, the reports of widespread racism and sexism in Reform have made clear that there is a significant moral issue within certain elements of the party, and the failure of the Party’s leadership to not only take this matter seriously, but also to fundamentally address it, has made clear to me that this is no longer a party I want to be associated with. As a result, I am announcing my endorsement of the Conservative Party candidate, Maggie Throup, for Erewash. Only she can stop Labour.
Good heavens.
The surprise move comes amidst a rocky week for Reform – after one of the party’s canvassers was recorded using a racial slur against the Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak has since said that the remarks made him ‘angry’, adding that party leader Farage had ‘some questions to answer’. For his part, Farage suggested this morning on Sky News that the racism row activist could be an ‘actor’ and insists he has always ‘fought harder than anyone to drive the BNP out as an electoral force’.
The party has long been dogged with candidate troubles. The party’s Welwyn Hatfield candidate came under fire for remarks he made in relation to a pseudoscientific theory about multiple personality types – in which he described Adolf Hitler as ‘brilliant’ and ‘able to inspire people to action’. Another was recently booed by a Salisbury crowd after saying that Putin ‘seemed very good’. And even before the election was called, the party had to drop ten prospective candidates over controversial comments and online posts.
Booth-Isherwood’s attack is the latest development for the Farage-founded party and at only four days before the national poll it’s hardly helpful timing. Will it affect the party’s vote share at this election? We’ll find out on 5 July…
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