Farage roared on by Reform candidates in Fleetwood as party faces up to big county election test

The Reform UK leader was back in Lancashire as part of a nationwide campaign tour ahead of next month’s local elections, having already visited Morecambe this lunchtime and Ormskirk last Wednesday.

For a politician often photographed with a foaming pint to hand, his first point of call was perhaps an apt one - the Strawberry Gardens pub on Poulton Road.

There he was given a rousing reception by the county council candidates who will be sporting the sky blue Reform rosettes next month.

He also managed to meet Fleetwood’s three last remaining commercial fishermen - John Worthington, Billy McGoff and Dave Pilling - who explained the challenges facing them in their industry.

There were then stops at the Grade II listed North Euston Hotel , where he met the manager and also a local family with young children and finally at Farmer Parrs Animal World where Mr Farage bottle-fed a lamb and risked a photo shoot with a cuddly but potentially tricky llama.

With opinion polls suggesting a continued upsurge in the Reform vote, Mr Farage was in a bullish mood and not about to fall foul of cute farm animals.

The party is contesting nearly 1,600 council seats across the UK in the May 1 polls.

He told the packed room at the Strawberry Gardens, where candidates had chanted his name as he arrived: “A fantastic reception. I’ve got to tell you, - the level of energy and enthusiasm among our candidates, among our supporters, is absolutely extraordinary

“When you think, ten months ago at the General Election, we hardly had a single branch in the country, We’ve built up 400 branches, we put more candidates - vetted candidates - in the field that any other party, beating Labour and the Conservatives. so I’m immensely proud.

“My reason for coming here today is to say thankyou.”

He later said: “In a town like Fleetwood, there is quite a lot of old Labour support rather than new labour support - very patriotic, very Brexity.

“But the thing about Reform is that we can take candidates off Labour as well as the Conservatives.

“We’re fielding 1,631 candidates out of a potential 1,640, like 99,5 percent.

“It reflects the growth of the party since the general election, we've professionalised it. We've made progress in this area around Blackpool and the coast here, so who knows, it could be a big day for us.”

Mr Farage was not concerned about any lack of council experience among many of his candidates, a good many of whom have never stood for election before,

He said: “We're a mixture of people, people who have experience as well as lots of newbies, but newbies in life who have a lot of enthusiasm are never a bad thing.”

Mr Farage previously attacked the current Conservative regime at County Hall for having one of the worst records in the country for potholes and accused the council of wasting lots money on the wrong things, which was refuted by deputy leader, Coun Alan Vincent,

But Mr Farage responded: “I still think there’s a lot of spending that’s unnecessary, I still think there are lots of people working for the County Council who are highly paid and haven’t delivered, and I think we can do better,”

At Lancashire County Council, Fleetwood has so far presented a mixed picture.

Fleetwood West & Cleveleys West seat is held by veteran Conservative member, Coun Stephen Clarke while, until recently, Fleetwood East was held by Labour’s Lorraine Beavers - who is also the town’s MP - until she stood down from the county role and the seat remains vacant.

Reform UK is now in the picture and remains to be seen if the party’s growing support can translate to actual votes come polling day.