Voters in 23 local authorities in England will go to polling stations on May 1 to choose their new councillors in the first big test at the ballot box for political parties since Labour won the general election in July 2024.
Nigel Farage’s party is standing 1631 candidates, according to analysis of nominations data, more than either Labour or the Conservatives.
According to The Times, the party has held talks with former prime minister Truss on how to overhaul the state and turn Reform UK into a more professional and efficient campaigning machine.
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Truss, who served just 49 days as prime minister before resigning under pressure from her own party and then losing her seat at last year’s general election, has previously heaped praise on Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Claiming that “everything that made Britain great is being destroyed by an establishment that hates Britain and hates the West”, she said: “Patriotic Brits have had enough, they’ve had enough, and we look across the Atlantic with envy.
“We see President Trump in the executive, in the Oval Office signing off executive orders and we want some of that in Britain.”
She added: “We want a Trump revolution in Britain, we want to flood the zone, we want Elon and his nerd army of Muskrats examining the British deep state.
“We missed the first American revolution in 1776, in fact it was a revolution against us, but we want to be part of the second American revolution.”
It is also understood the party have hired senior staff from Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ).
With a stronger grassroots network, Reform UK then has its eyes set on elections to the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament.
Labour has consistently been the largest party since 1997 in Cardiff with control now slipping.
Reform is currently polling neck-and-neck with the ruling Labour Party and Plaid Cymru, ahead of the Conservatives. Plaid has warned Reform could win the election.
Reform is also hosting fundraising events to avoid an over-reliance on revenue from members’ fees, despite their membership growing to surpass the Tories in December.
There are also contests for six mayors in England, and the first by-election of this Parliament, for Runcorn and Helsby, after the resignation of the previous MP Mike Amesbury.
