Reform are breathing down the neck of the Tories, according to the latest polls. So it’s perhaps no surprise then that hostilities have stepped up between spokesmen for the two parties. The Mail on Sunday has today run a two-page story on various eccentric candidates standing for Reform at the forthcoming election. Among them include a man ordered to pay £2,000 for attacking a dog in a Dorset country lane, a fortune-teller who sold spells on OnlyFans and a Covid conspiracy theorist who likened Boris Johnson to Hitler.
The story also includes a prominent quote by Jonathan Gullis, the newly-appointed Tory deputy chair, criticising Reform’s vetting process. According to Gullis, ‘We can only assume this cast of characters passed Mr Tice’s muster. We are clearly not just talking about a “few rotten eggs” here’ adding ‘If you are promoting candidates banned from looking after dogs, how can you honestly say they are capable of looking after the interests of their candidates?’
It has prompted a furious response from Reform leader Richard Tice.
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