UK

Reform UK leader Richard Tice turns sights on ‘woke’ Labour

Richard Tice accused Labour of betraying the working class as he targeted their voters ahead of this year’s general election.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice
Reform UK leader Richard Tice (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
By David Hughes and Rhiannon James, PA

Reform UK leader Richard Tice targeted Labour in a pitch for voters in the so-called Red Wall.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hopes to win back seats in his party’s former northern heartlands, which were lost to the Tories in Boris Johnson’s 2019 landslide.

But Mr Tice hopes Brexit-voting constituents could be persuaded to switch from the Conservatives to Reform, rather than backing Labour.

Reform UK has ditched seven candidates for the upcoming election following complaints about their comments on social media
Reform UK has ditched seven candidates for the upcoming election following complaints about their comments on social media (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

At a press conference in London, he said: “We are now actually polling the highest amongst Brexiteers across the whole of the UK.

“We’re above the Tories in the North, equal in the Midlands, so we’re making huge strides.”

He said the country was “completely and utterly broken” after 14 years of Tory rule.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice targeted Labour voters
Reform UK leader Richard Tice targeted Labour voters (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

But he accused Labour of betraying working-class voters in favour of a “woke” agenda.

He said: “That’s the reality of what they’re doing. They no longer care, they have no plans, they have no solutions.

“All they’re focused on, frankly, are the woke, managerial middle class who happen to be eco-zealots.”