Reform UK is ready for a fight after party leader Nigel Farage announced yesterday that he will resign as MP for Clacton and stand again in the resulting by-election.
After weeks of attacks and smears, Farage is asking the people to decide. He is putting his future directly in the hands of the voters of Clacton, in what he described as “a people versus the establishment by-election”.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s shadow Home Secretary, made the point clearly on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. He said that instead of waiting for Westminster processes, Farage has chosen to go “directly to that ultimate source of truth” - the voters.
That is what the old parties cannot stand, and that is why Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have all refused to put forward candidates in Clacton. As Yusuf said: “The reason why they are choosing not to field a candidate is very simple; having screamed for a by-election at the top of their lungs for weeks now, having been given one, they are running scared.”
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice was even blunter, branding them “cowards” and accusing them of “clucking away” like chickens.
Yusuf also hit back at the sneering way establishment politicians talk about Clacton itself. Appearing on GB News, he said he took “real exception” to those who speak about people in Clacton as if they were “some sort of nefarious body”. This was in reference to comments from Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey that framed Clacton voters as being misled.
“No, Ed Davey, they are the voters”, Yusuf said. “They are the people who actually matter with regards to Nigel’s performance as an MP.”
Yusuf compared this stitch-up to the way Labour and the Tories worked together to try to cancel local elections for millions of voters. “We call them the uniparty for a reason”, he said.
Reform UK’s shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick said that Farage has “the courage to put himself forward” and make his argument not just to Clacton, but to the country. And Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson predicted that Farage would “win handsomely” and send “shockwaves through the establishment”.
Reform UK’s head of preparation for government, Danny Kruger, warned that the hounding of Farage and his family was an attempt to “disable Reform” because of the threat it poses to the Westminster establishment. “They’re playing the man and not the ball”, he said.
The contrast could not be clearer. Reform UK is willing to face the voters. The old parties are not.
After weeks of attacks and smears, Farage is asking the people to decide. He is putting his future directly in the hands of the voters of Clacton, in what he described as “a people versus the establishment by-election”.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s shadow Home Secretary, made the point clearly on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. He said that instead of waiting for Westminster processes, Farage has chosen to go “directly to that ultimate source of truth” - the voters.
That is what the old parties cannot stand, and that is why Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have all refused to put forward candidates in Clacton. As Yusuf said: “The reason why they are choosing not to field a candidate is very simple; having screamed for a by-election at the top of their lungs for weeks now, having been given one, they are running scared.”
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice was even blunter, branding them “cowards” and accusing them of “clucking away” like chickens.
Yusuf also hit back at the sneering way establishment politicians talk about Clacton itself. Appearing on GB News, he said he took “real exception” to those who speak about people in Clacton as if they were “some sort of nefarious body”. This was in reference to comments from Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey that framed Clacton voters as being misled.
“No, Ed Davey, they are the voters”, Yusuf said. “They are the people who actually matter with regards to Nigel’s performance as an MP.”
Yusuf compared this stitch-up to the way Labour and the Tories worked together to try to cancel local elections for millions of voters. “We call them the uniparty for a reason”, he said.
Reform UK’s shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick said that Farage has “the courage to put himself forward” and make his argument not just to Clacton, but to the country. And Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson predicted that Farage would “win handsomely” and send “shockwaves through the establishment”.
Reform UK’s head of preparation for government, Danny Kruger, warned that the hounding of Farage and his family was an attempt to “disable Reform” because of the threat it poses to the Westminster establishment. “They’re playing the man and not the ball”, he said.
The contrast could not be clearer. Reform UK is willing to face the voters. The old parties are not.
