A Reform UK candidate has disowned the party and is backing the Conservatives amid a row over racism.
Liam Booth-Isherwood, who was standing in the seat of Erewash, announced he was dropping out of the race and would instead be endorsing the Tory contender Maggie Throup to “stop Labour”.
He said he had become “increasingly disillusioned” with the behaviour of the party and accused leader Nigel Farage of not taking it seriously.
…
Pressed on why his party seems to attract people who hold extremist views, the former UKIP leader claimed it was because he had driven the British Nationalist Party (BNP) “out as an electoral force”.
“Ironically, destroying the BNP means people who are minded that way don’t any longer have a home to go to, and so some will gravitate in our direction,” he added.
Yes I wonder why that could be, Nigel.
Maybe because you say the kind of things the BNP liked to hear? Perhaps you should say something else.
It was by design. The problem is that when you get former BNP members, they say and do racist things. But who could have possibly foreseen that outcome?