Nigel Farage has vowed to go “double or quits” on May’s local elections with a spending blitz of £5m.
The Reform UK leader has described the upcoming vote as “the single most important event between now and the general election”, expected in 2029, and acknowledged that “people would ask questions” about his leadership if the party’s poll lead did not translate into election wins.
He also addressed claims from his contemporaries at school that he used antisemitic language, which he has previously denied, saying the reporting might be “solidifying” the party’s support.
Voters will go to the polls on Thursday 7 May for elections for 5,036 council seats across 136 local authorities in England, while voters in Scotland and Wales will elect a new Scottish Parliament and Senedd.
Reform’s initial internal target for the local elections in England was to win 1,000 seats – but that goal could be stymied after the government announced that it will examine requests from 63 local authorities to delay votes in their areas due to the local government reorganisation plan.
Nonetheless, Mr Farage told The Times newspaper that his party will be throwing everything at winning, saying: “It’s double or quits. As far as I’m concerned we are just going to go for it.
“If we come out of it without a single penny in the bank account and everyone is exhausted … It is the single most important event between now and the general election.
“On it depends the future of our prime minister, the future of the leader of the opposition and indeed my own relative strength or otherwise as leader of Reform. If we bombed people would ask questions. My entire focus and energy is on the planning and preparation for it.”
Reform UK intends to spend £5m over the next four months on direct mail and social media ahead of the elections – a spending blitz made possible by former Conservative donor Christopher Harborne handing the party £9m, which is one of the largest in…
