Reform UK launches 'most ambitious' local election campaign

Reform UK has launched its "most ambitious" local election campaign with a major rally as the party looks to turn opinion poll momentum into council seats.

It has been neck and neck with Labour and ahead of the Tories in some polls but has been destabilised by a row that saw Rupert Lowe, one of the five Reform MPs elected last year, expelled from the party.

Reform will contest nearly all the 1,600 council seats up for re-election on 1 May, six mayoral races and a by-election to replace ex-Labour MP Mike Amesbury after his assault conviction.

Party leader Nigel Farage told the rally in Birmingham the local elections were the "first major hurdle" on Reform's road to power.

The polls will be a major electoral test of the popularity of a party that has spoken openly about ambitions to win the next general election.

Since winning MPs for the first time at the July general election, Reform has surged in polls and says it has signed up more than 220,000 members.

Friday's rally was Reform's biggest event to date with the party saying 10,000 people turne out, most paying £5 to attend the event at Arena Birmingham.

Farage entered for his keynote speech on a JCB vehicle he said had been loaned to him by JCB chairman and major Tory donor Lord Bamford.

He said potholes were the "perfect symbol for broken Britain", where he accused councils of being "asleep at the wheel".

At the 2024 local elections, Reform stood in only 12% of available council seats – but this year Farage announced the party were fielding nearly a "full list of candidates across the entire country".

Most councils up for election are county-level - large authorities like Lancashire and Kent that look after services including social care, education, road maintenance and libraries.

In parts of England with no district councils, like in Cornwall, Doncaster and Buckinghamshire, local authorities are responsible for the full range of services including bin collections, public housing and planning.

In some areas, local elections have been delayed until next year while councils are reorganised, including in Essex where Reform had been expected to do well. Reform have launched a petition against the delay.

The party has announced that former Cheshire East councillor and local magistrate Sarah Pochin will stand as its candidate for the forthcoming Runcorn and Helsby by-election.

Farage played down pressure on Reform to win the seat, which Labour won with a 34.8% majority at the last election.

"It's a must win by-election for Labour," said Farage. "We're going to run them close. whatever we do."

• You can find the full list of candidates for the Runcorn and Helsby by-election here

Farage also mentioned national ambitions, including deporting illegal migrants and leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

He voiced an intention to create a "British form of Doge," modelled on Elon Musk's non-governmental department tasked with cutting US government jobs and other spending.

In the run-up to the election, Farage said the party had put in 3,000 Freedom Of Information requests to find examples of wasteful spending.

"When we win these county councils, we'll send in the auditors, we'll get rid of the fraudulent contracts, we'll cut spending and we'll do our utmost to fulfil all of our promises," he said.