It was to a packed-out auditorium that Nigel Farage announced his party’s mayoral candidate for Hull and East Yorkshire on Thursday night. Reform pulled out all the stops for its reveal of former Olympic boxer and gold medallist Luke Campbell, from sparkler firework lights to a mocked-up boxing ring. ‘The set up is immense,’ one aide boasted. And judging by the crowd’s roars at the big unveiling, they thought so too.
Campbell is, in many ways, a perfect candidate for Reform. The 37-year-old Hull-born international boxer is an inspiration for other young men who have grown up without much, and is standing for office in an area he knows well. His selection marks a clear deviation from the party’s choice of paper candidates it fielded at the general election. And, despite his numerous accolades, it would be a far cry to describe Campbell as egotistical. He may have performed on the sporting world stage before, but during last night’s speech the Reform supporters of Hull – a mixed crowd of varying ages reflective of the city’s 91 per cent white population – Campbell appeared slightly overwhelmed.
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