Farage and Conservatives clash as Hampshire local election campaign heats up

Nigel Farage has said his party has “got to win seats” at both Portsmouth and Havant councils as he visited Waterlooville to outline his party’s ambitions for the local elections.

The leader of Reform UK and MP for Clacton, Nigel Farage, visited Waterlooville Prescinct today (May 1) alongside local MP Suella Braverman. He with residents and traders before heading to a local pub to meet supporters and the local press in a bid to bolster his party’s ahead of next week’s vote.

His visit also coincided with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissing Reform as an “unserious” party during her visit to Gosport – as a war of words was exchanged in the run up to local elections.

Reform’s record on local government

Mr Farage said winning seats at both Havant and Portsmouth were a high priority in councils in which he claimed are “potentially enormously strong areas for Reform”.

When asked what issues matter to Reform voters locally, he replied: “It’s a weird one because even though they’re local elections, the honest brutal truth is that two-thirds of people vote on national issues.

“It shouldn’t be like that,” he added.

Referring to the ten councils led by Reform, Farage said his party has “managed to save £300m on excess expenditure” and kept council tax rises “lower than the other comparable councils”.

He said he can “promise” that Reform councils will be “careful with your money” and that council tax rises “will not be maximum”, alongside a “fresh approach and fresh thinking”.

In recent weeks, Reform UK has shifted from pledging to cut or freeze council tax to promising lower rises than other parties. However, Reform run councils in Doncaster, Kent and Derbyshire have approved increases, while Worcestershire County Council faces potential bankruptcy and a possible rise of up to ten per cent.

Other Reform-led councils have been marred by controversy, including infighting in Kent and instability in Staffordshire, which is on its fourth leader in 11 months.

In response, Farage clarified that Reform has minority control of Worcestershire and said “it was bankrupt before we started”.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

The Labour government’s LGR agenda aims to replace the two tier system, where county and district councils share services, with larger unitary authorities serving populations of around 500,000.

Under the plans, councils in Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham and Havant would merge.

Farage described LGR as an “absolute dog’s dinner”. He likened the proposed authorities in Hampshire to “three amorphous masses that have little in common for each other”.

He added that he is unsure about claims that LGR would deliver cost savings, suggesting that larger authorities with more councillors would require bigger council chambers for decision making.

He warned that if smaller rural or coastal district councils are grouped with large city authorities, then “their priorities go to the top”.

Former Conservative home secretary and MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, Suella Braverman, described LGR as a “total waste of money”.

She said LGR would ultimately cost taxpayers more and result in “less democracy” for Waterlooville and Fareham, as they would be grouped with Portsmouth, which “will be the centre of gravity”.

Portsmouth Patriots

When asked about the Portsmouth Patriots, a local protest group seen demonstrating outside an asylum hotel in Southsea, Farage acknowledged public concern.

The protests have been marred by controversy, including two incidents where attendees, including UKIP leader Nick Tenconi, were seen making gestures widely recognised as Nazi salutes.

In July last year, police deployed CS gas to break up violence between protesters and counter protesters, resulting in three arrests.

Mr Farage said he understands the fear, anger and “the sense of injustice and unfairness”.

“I would urge anyone who wants to go an protest to do so peacefully and to use responsible language.

“I can promise you if any of my lot were to turn up and behave badly outside any of these place they wouldn’t stay members of the party – even though we’re really angry about it.”

High streets

On the health of UK high streets, Farage said he has seen “big government money being pumped into achieve very little at all” during his campaign.

He praised the gradual success of Wellington Way in Waterlooville, stating that when “government works with private finance together you achieve results, when government spends money on its own, often the results disappoint”.

Braverman said Waterlooville town centre “could be so much more” in terms of investment and improvements to the public realm.

She said the high street has too many “derelict units” and suffers from “graffiti and disrepair”.

Conservative defections

When asked why Reform attracts so many Conservative defections at both national and local level, Farage said: “The Conservatives have been the dominant party in British politics on and off for 200 years and I think you’re witnessing the end of it – something very big and very historic is going on.

“The two party system that we’ve known for a century is melting before our eyes.”

Braverman said part of her decision to defect was due to “the betrayal of the last Conservative government”.

She was sacked by then prime minister Rishi Sunak in November 2023 after accusing the Metropolitan Police of being more lenient towards pro Palestinian protesters than right wing groups.

“In the end, on two tier policing, I raised my head above the parapet, I blew the whistle on the failure by the police and instead of backing me a Conservative prime minster sacked me.

“I tried to give it time to see if it could redeem itself, it didn’t, and that’s why I lost all hope in the Conservative party.”

Meanwhile, in a separate visit to Gosport which also took place today, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch described Reform as an “unserious” party.

“We’re talking about serious things. About defence, how we defend our country, how we get people working again and off welfare.

“That’s the message we’re taking up and down Hampshire, and I think the people here will like what they have to say.”

Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport, said Reform are not “offering anything”, instead telling voters “how rubbish everything is”.

She added that “disillusionment with the Labour party is pushing people into the arms of minority parties like the Greens and Reform, but they don’t offer anything. They’re about telling you what’s wrong, but not what they would do better.

“They’re praying on people’s fear and selling them a world which is undeliverable. People want honesty, telling them what actually needs to be done, how we’re going to get there, and how we’re going to do it.”

Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South added: “Where Reform have taken control of councils, they’ve shown they can’t deliver.

“In council after council where they campaigned on cutting waste and cutting taxes, they’re putting council tax up and slashing services. At the same time their councils are full of chaotic infighting, sackings and resignations and even racism scandals. When people elect a Reform council, they soon regret it.

“Reform voted against our £26bn investment in the NHS, and Nigel Farage says he wants an insurance-based system - which could mean charges for operations and GP appointments. That puts our NHS at risk. They voted against Labour’s measures to tackle antisocial behaviour and shoplifting, and to strengthen police powers to recover stolen goods.

“That’s not what our city and our communities need and deserve”.