Twenty-nine councillors defect to Reform UK

Reform UK person Nigel Farage has welcomed 29 councillors to his enactment pursuing defections from parties including the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

It takes the party's full fig of assembly seats to 114.

Speaking astatine a property league successful Westminster, Farage said the defections demonstrated however his enactment was "broadening and deepening".

However, it comes arsenic immoderate Reform members are expressing interest astir the party's enactment and the suspension of MP Rupert Lowe from the party.

Farage acknowledged that his enactment had acquisition a "little spot of turbulence" implicit the past fewer weeks.

He acknowledged the suspension of Lowe had caused "consternation" adding: "Any statement that's seen to hap wrong the household does, but I tin committedness you that successful presumption of our advancement and our planning, that upset is precise overmuch astatine the edges."

Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, was suspended by the enactment and referred to constabulary implicit allegations helium made "threats of carnal violence" against enactment president Zia Yusuf.

The enactment besides said it had received allegations of bullying successful Lowe's parliamentary and constituency office.

Lowe has said the party's allegations are "untrue and false". He argued helium had been suspended for criticising Farage successful a paper interview.

Addressing the row, Farage said: "We've been progressively acrophobic astir the behaviour of 1 of our members of Parliament, and erstwhile we recovered retired that immoderate superior complaints person gone in, we thought, you cognize what, let's conscionable suspend the whip and let's find retired what the information is, and we volition wait."

He said the study they had commissioned into to the allegations could beryllium completed this week.

Farage besides criticised "the online maltreatment and frankly outright racism" directed astatine Yusuf successful caller weeks.

He said the nationalist spat with Lowe would not "put a dent" successful Reform UK's electoral chances, arsenic the enactment gears up for section elections connected 1 May.

"We're going to beryllium retired determination canvassing, campaigning, and doing our champion to beryllium that the polls aren't virtual, actually, the existent votes beryllium retired determination connected the ground."

The enactment has said it plans to basal successful each the assembly seats that are owed to clasp elections successful May.

Of Reform UK's 114 councillor seats, 15 person been won done elections, including 7 from Labour and 4 from the Conservatives.

The remaining 99 seats person turned Reform UK done defections - 62 of those defections person happened since the opening of the year.

The bulk of the defections (67) were primitively elected arsenic Conservative councillors. Three came from Labour and 1 came from the Liberal Democrats.

The remainder were autarkic councillors oregon came from section parties.