Farage’s decision ‘came as a surprise’, says ousted Clacton Reform candidate
The Reform UK candidate forced to make way for Nigel Farage has told supporters the decision “came as a surprise”.
Tony Mack, who was campaigning to be the next MP for Clacton-on-Sea, said he was “disappointed” to no longer be running.
However, he said he would support Mr Farage and told his campaign team to put aside any disappointment that he had about not standing in his home town.
Mr Farage will address supporters on Clacton Pier on Tuesday after announcing his decision on Monday to stand when he became the leader of Reform UK.
The Brexiteer declared “I’m back” as he returned to front-line politics in a speech, and vowed to lead a “political revolt” to topple the Conservative Party.
He is standing in Clacton, which voted 70 per cent in favour of leaving the EU during the 2016 Brexit referendum and is currently held by Conservative Giles Watling who has a majority of 25,000.
Posting last night on his campaign social media page, Mr Mack told of his shock at Mr Farage’s announcement.
He said: “Whilst it came as a surprise to me and I am obviously disappointed to no longer be the parliamentary candidate in my hometown of Clacton. I believe that Reform UK have the right policies to guide our nation going forward and would be the best government for our country.
“I will do all I can to ensure Nigel’s victory in Clacton and will be urging my team to overcome any disappointment and unite behind Nigel and me as we continue to strive for a better future for the Clacton constituency and the United Kingdom.”
Mr Mack’s biography and campaign details have been removed from Reform UK’s Clacton constituency webpage and replaced with information about Mr Farage.
Mr Farage said there were “no circumstances whatsoever” in which Reform UK would stand aside for Tory candidates at the general election.
The new leader of Reform accused the Conservative Party of having “betrayed” Britain. He also claimed the Tories had “lost the election already”.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which Reform could stand aside for the Tories, Mr Farage told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Nope. There are no circumstances whatsoever. We have been betrayed by a Conservative Party that I gave considerable help to back in 2019 and boy did I.
“I got rid of Mrs [Theresa] May by forming the Brexit Party and they had their most crushing defeat in 200 years.
“I stood aside in over 300 seats for Boris Johnson and we were told that we would get control of our borders, we were told the immigration numbers would come down. They have exploded.
“I feel betrayed by them, millions of voters feel betrayed by them and even though there are some people in the Conservative Party who I fought with during Brexit and other battles I am afraid they are part of a party who are well past their sell-by date, the brand is ruined, they have lost the election already.”
