Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage plans to recruit Britain’s top entrepreneurs as well as TV personalities and even sports stars to join his Government if he becomes Prime Minister. The Reform UK leader aims to bring in some of the nation’s most talented people to counter one of Reform’s biggest weaknesses – the fact that none of its MPs have experience of being a Government minister.
He could present voters at the next general election with a list of experts that will be members of his Cabinet if he becomes Prime Minister. The plan is revealed by the Spectator magazine today. Columnist James Heale wrote: “Reform strategists insist they want to get genuine expertise into office.”
Some councillors could be recruited he said, and he added: “There will be a considerable push to attract influential business figures as well. High-profile contacts from the worlds of tech and finance will be approached, courted and assured of Reform’s intent.”
The Spectator also reported that former GB News presenter Darren Grimes, now a Reform councillor and Durham County Council, and former Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry could be considered for posts.
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown did something similar when he appointed business leader Digby Jones as a minister in his government, even though Lord Jones – who was given a seat in the House of Lords – had never been a politician.
One Reform MP, former Tory Lee Anderson, held a senior position as Conservative Deputy Chair when the Tories were in power, but was not a Minister.
Polls have consistently shown Reform in the lead, and the latest survey from YouGov this week showed 28% of voters plan to support Reform with 22% backing Labour, 18% saying they will vote Conservative and 17% supporting the Liberal Democrats.
Although Reform and the Conservatives have ruled out any pact, Labour insiders fear the biggest threat to Sir Keir Starmer at the next election will come if the two parties are able to form an agreement, such as agreeing not to stand against each other in some marginal seats.
Nigel Farage’s party faces a huge test today as a by-election for the Scottish Parliament takes place following the death of Scottish Government minister Christina McKelvie in March.
The SNP and Labour were initially seen as the frontrunners in the race, but Reform UK has surged in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat and hopes for second place. Even if the SNP wins, it will be seen as a triumph if Reform come second and push Labour into third place.
One of the major talking points of the campaign has been the criticism levelled at Reform after an attack advert published by the party claimed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar prioritises people from Pakistan over those in Scotland.
The ad showed a speech from the Labour MSP where he urged more people from a south Asian background to enter politics, and it was later denounced as racist by Reform’s opponents.
Disaster awaits if Rachel Reeves is blamed for police collapse
Labour has a huge majority but it is in electoral danger (Image: Getty)
The Chancellor is love-bombing traditional Labour heartlands to stop Reform UK delivering the type of demolition job the party suffered in Scotland when voters embraced the SNP.
Labour knows it cannot allow voters in once rock-solid seats to feel taken for granted. The Government suffered a PR-nightmare at the start of the year when it announced a raft of pro-growth policies which looked centred on the South.
Its support for a third runway at Heathrow, the Oxford-Cambridge “growth corridor” and the Lower Thames Crossing did little to suggest ending the North-South divide – or, as Boris Johnson would put it, “levelling-up” – is a top priority for this Labour administration.
The Chancellor has now seized the chance to assure communities far from London they are on her radar, trumpeting her support for transport schemes across the North and Midlands as part of a £15.6billion funding package.
Ms Reeves understands she must be seen as something other than Slasher-in-Chief as next week’s spending review races closer. Her opponents will accuse her of implementing Tory-style austerity that could have been avoided if she had not stamped on growth with her shock Budget which hiked up taxes on employers.
Labour is dismayed Reform UK is in first place in the polls and Sir Keir Starmer has tried to brand Nigel Farage as “Liz Truss 2.0”. He knows Labour’s electoral survival hinges on nailing down voters’ trust on the economy – and it is essential his Chancellor commands the respect of the country.
But if she is seen to take the axe to the Home Office in the spending review – right at the moment Reform is reaching out to voters worried about illegal immigration and the breakdown of law and order – Labour risks sinking even further in the polls.
The nation’s country’s most senior police chiefs have warned “negotiations between the Home Office and the Treasury are going poorly”. They say cuts would mean “stark choices about which crimes we no longer prioritise”.
Ms Reeves insists the Government will be “increasing spending on police” in the spending review.
But if the message voters get from this landmark moment is police won’t turn up to crimes, voters will conclude Britain is broken under Labour. And then they will look for an alternative party of Government.
