Billionaire ex-Tory donor will give Reform millions to boost chances at next election, Nigel Farage tells LBC

10 December 2024, 14:44

By Natasha Clark

@NatashaC

A billionaire ex-Tory donor will give Reform millions of pounds to help win seats at the next election, Nigel Farage has told LBC.

The Reform chief insisted that Nick Candy would be digging into his own pocket to help them, as it was announced he's defecting to become their party Treasurer.

The property and business tycoon, who is married to Reform backer Holly Valance, has said he'll give a "seven figure" sum to the party to boost its coffers.

He renounced his membership of the Tory party this week, saying they'd presided over "too many broken promises".

In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Mr Candy said: “I have today resigned my membership of the Conservative Party after many years of active support and substantial donations to the party.

"I am sorry to say there have been too many broken promises and a complete breach of trust with the wealth creators in our country.

"Nigel Farage is a close personal friend of mine, and Reform UK represents the future of British politics.

“I am pleased to announce that I will now become the treasurer for Reform UK and intend to raise enough funds for them to win the next general election."

Mr Farage told LBC he welcomed the support, saying he'd help to rake in cash and professionalise the party.

He said: "It's really positive news. Nick is very, very good at raising money for business projects, political projects, we're thrilled to have him on board.

"He says he's going to raise us more than all of the other political parties, and I believe him."

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Mr Farage's party has inched ahead in two recent polls - as support for Labour and the Tories have dropped.

He said the Tories were now "over" and half should be joining them, the other half, the Liberal Democrats.

"They're split down the middle, the story is over," he added.

There's "without doubt, momentum" behind the party at the moment

Some polling has shown that they party could win 110 seats at the next election, but Mr Farage told LBC "I think we can win more than that".

He added: "Reform has got momentum, people want something different, and positive. We believe we can turn that around.

"The next election is a long way away, and I reckon we can win many, many more than that."

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Australian-British actress and singer Valance was pictured with her husband, Donald Trump and Mr Farage at the US president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022.

Reform also welcomed Dame Andrea Jenkyns over from the Tories last month.

But she told LBC on election night that she was offered a “bribe” to jump ship.

Ellie Reeves, the chair of Labour, has written to the parliamentary standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, to ask him to look into this.

In the letter, Reeves referenced the interview from LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr last week, where Ms Jenkyns did not deny a bribe had been offered, saying: "It was one of their donors and I turned it down. That’s in the past."