Paul Geater: Starting to look like the end for Reform UK

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage <i>(Image: Jonathan Brady)</i>
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Image: Jonathan Brady)
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Are we starting to see the implosion of Reform UK at all levels as they seem to be totally unable to get to grips with the basics of political operations?

Let's start at the bottom, at council level.

Across the region, counties elected Reform UK administrations in May.

Why? It totally escapes me.

The party said absolutely damn all about the issues that counties are responsible for; they just whinged on about immigration and wokeness.

Among the first things they did was to revoke the councils' declarations of a Climate Emergency.

Did it make much difference? Probably not.

What it did do, however, was to make a statement that looks pretty damn stupid now in the light of the appalling wildfires that are consuming the region's most precious landscapes from the south of Essex to north Norfolk.

And what have we heard from our political representatives running the counties on the disasters in their backyards? Diddly squat!

In Suffolk, where the Dunwich Heath wildfire has been making national television news for the best part of a week, there has been a deafening silence from councillors.

Fortunately, the senior fire officers know the importance of keeping the public informed and have been doing a great job.

But what of the councillors? The impression many of us have is that they are far more concerned with ensuring the leader has a refurbished office and the best space in the council car park than they were with the emergency.

It is disgraceful that until a meeting this week, the Prime Minister had had more to say and do about the Dunwich fire than the local councillors!

However, the issues surrounding local councillors are only one manifestation of Reform UK's malaise.

The drip-drip-drip of allegations surrounding the financing of the party leadership really is starting to hit home.

It is clear from opinion polls that the public is beginning to see through the rhetoric of Mr Farage, and more and more people are starting to feel there's something rotten at the core.

Someone I know who's always urged me to give Mr Farage and his party a fair hearing said to me this week: "I think Farage and Reform UK are starting to fail the sniff test!"

That means people think there's something slightly dodgy about them and they find it difficult to trust them.

There are all these allegations about the source of millions of pounds from a cryptocurrency billionaire and hundreds of thousands more linked to someone convicted of financial offences in the US.

Mr Farage's squirming about when and why he decided to stand for parliament looks dodgy, and now the source of deputy leader Richard Tice's money is also being investigated by the House of Commons.

To those of us whose income is relatively modest, these kinds of financial shenanigans look extremely odd and are totally alien to the vast majority of voters.

And despite Mr Farage's attempts to start sabre-rattling by rehashing an old Boris Johnson plan on small boats that sunk before it was launched, more and more members of the public seem to be having doubts about Reform UK and its leadership.

One last thing. Mr Farage is not currently an MP, even though he is leader of his party.

He is one of 34 joke candidates in next week's Clacton by-election.

Why didn't broadcasters allow Count Binface and the other 32 candidates the chance to have their say on immigration and small boats this week, or did they all refuse the offer?

If we are beginning to see the end of Reform UK as a national force, I for one won't be shedding any tears; I just hope the other parties step up to the plate and offer voters something that they can latch on to.

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