A four-minute sit-down with Reform UK's Richard Tice

Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, says the party is making "huge progress"

Ahead of this autumn's party conferences, BBC London's political editor Karl Mercer is sitting down with leaders, or deputy leaders, for four minutes each to discuss some of the key issues facing the capital and what their party might do to tackle some of them.

His first interview is with Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK.

KM: "In London, would it be fair to say Reform is struggling?"

RT: "Far from it, we're just starting and we've got elections across London next May and we will be standing candidates I think pretty much everywhere.

"I think people will be astonished by the level of support that we're getting. People are furious about the state of London, about what's happening to safety, security, lawless London.

"I've even got my own device to reduce the risk of my phone being nicked as I walk down the streets of London.

"That's the state of London under mayor Sadiq Khan."

KM: "People were not furious enough last year, were they, to change that, when there was a mayoral election. Sadiq Khan got 1m votes, your candidate got less than 80,000, didn't get enough to keep his deposit."

RT: "At the time Labour were polling 40% and now Labour are polling 20% and Reform are polling 35%.

"So we're the party on the up. In different places that's the joy of democracy. You'll have slightly different make-ups and constituencies and views, but we are making huge progress and I think people will see that Reform will do very well in London next May."

KM: "Your huge progress, as you call it, amounts to one elected councillor."

RT: "That was May 2024. The huge progress is since then."

KM: "One elected councillor in London out of 1,800 councillors, which if my calculations are right, is one fewer than the Biggin Hill independents."

RT: "Let me reiterate, we've made huge progress, we're leading in the national polls and that great progress will be reflected in the elections next May, two years after the elections in May 2024.

"So yeah look we're on an upward journey and that's because we've got policies - whether it's lawless London, lawless Britain, people are really concerned about safety and security on our streets and the failures of our justice system and the weak leadership of the Met Police in London."

KM: "You talk about lawless London, there's some figures out this week which say violent crime is down in London, burglaries are down, homicides for London 25s and homicides for London 20s are at some of their lowest level."

RT: "You can pick tiny levels. Do you know what, most people are not bothering to report crime now because it is so out of control.

"I know so many people who've had their phone nicked, the quantity of shoplifting, graffiti, the state of our streets is the worst in my 60 years of life.

"So let me tell you, crime in London is out of control and people don't feel safe."

KM: "And is your offer just to the outer London boroughs, because it looks like you are targeting the Havens, the Bromleys, the Redbridges?"

RT: "Our policies and what we do is the same everywhere. Of course we'll be more popular or less popular in different areas, that's the joys of democracy, but we'll be standing everywhere and our policies will be about safety, security, law and order, and cutting out wasteful spending of which there is vast amounts everywhere."

KM: "And you say you're going to stand a candidate in every ward, or just one? Or are you going to stand in every eight?"

RT: "Our intention across the whole of the UK, where there are elections, including in London, is to stand everywhere.

"Who knows, at the wire occasionally you miss the last one, but at the May election's just gone, we stood more candidates than any other political party."