6 days Ago
The Clacton MP, who unsuccessfully stood for election to Parliament in the city with UKIP in 1997, spoke to several businesses, posed for selfies and ordered a pint at the Haunch of Venison pub on Monday afternoon (April 28). He was then due to travel to Durrington's Stonehenge Inn for a meet and greet with Reform candidates ahead of Thursday's local elections. His party is fielding candidates in all 98 Wiltshire divisions for the first time.
There are also Reform UK candidates standing for election in seven of the eight city council wards. Only St Francis and Stratford does not have a Reform name on the ballot paper. Mr Farage with Juan Bobby, owner of vacuum cleaner specialists Suck It Up Salisbury (Image: Newsquest) The Conservatives have run Wiltshire Council since it was created in 2009 and had a majority on the former county council for nine years before that.
But Mr Farage expects the Tories to lose seats and the Liberal Democrats to make gains, and thinks his party could perform well, but says the outcome is hard to predict. “If you believe our national vote share, we’re going to be competing in a lot of these seats,” he said. “Local governments have become way too complacent.
“People deserve some answers as to why millions of pounds are spent on consultants, agency workers, climate change initiatives, and health initiatives. “Wiltshire Council is pretty woke.” Mr Farage stopped for selfies in the shadow of the Poultry Cross (Image: Newsquest) He said the outcome in Wiltshire is “so hard to call”.
“A good result’s winning it,” he said. “Maybe a more realistic result is getting a good body of councillors embedded in local government to fight for our local and our national priorities.” Mr Farage pointed to Wiltshire Council's decision to spend £323,000 on a bin lorry that “happens to be electric” in January as an example of the “virtue signal spending”.
The council argued that the higher cost of buying electric will be offset by lower fuelling costs throughout the vehicle's life. Mr Farage posed for a photograph with a trainer at The Workout Lab after media interviews were hastily set up outside (Image: Newsquest) Mr Farage said: “I look through those items of expenditure. There are some very big questions.
“And what about the work from home culture? If we win the council, that’s over.” Ahead of the vote, some local voters have asked why several Reform UK candidates do not have their addresses listed on election literature. In Salisbury's eight divisions, the Green Party and Reform both have six candidates who have only disclosed that their address is in Wiltshire.
The Conservatives have three candidates who have not disclosed their addresses, and the Labour Party has one. Asked if voters can put their trust in candidates who will not confirm they live in the division they hope to represent, Mr Farage said: “I would suggest that one or two people are a little bit nervous about their addresses going in the public domain. “I bet, as the years go by, we’ll see more of it, sadly.
” He also responded to Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch who, in an interview with Sky, said she would refuse to form a coalition with Reform UK nationally but would not rule it out at a local level. “Nationally and locally, we want nothing to do with them,” Mr Farage said. “I won’t even contemplate it until the polls close at 10pm on Thursday.
” During his visit, Mr Farage spent time in four local shops, followed by a throng of journalists and camera operators. He popped into window furnishing company BaTs, spoke to Juan Bobby, the owner of newly opened vacuum specialists Suck It Up Salisbury, bought a sausage roll at Reeve and chatted to staff at W Carter and Son jewellers. Mr Farage was stopped by several shoppers (Image: Newsquest) He then bought himself a pint of New Forest Bronze ale at historic pub Haunch and said it is “nice to see” Salisbury doing well.
“It’s thriving,” he said. “Suck It Up Salisbury – how cool is that? He only opened on Tuesday.” Mr Farage is one of several party leaders to campaign in Wiltshire.
Mrs Badenoch spoke to the Journal at the Chemring Countermeasures factory in High Post on April 8. Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, cuddled lambs and met Wiltshire College students at a campus in Chippenham the following day. City councillor Ed Rimmer, who defected to Reform from the Conservatives last year and joined Mr Farage in the city, said: “It’s great to have the support of a national figure like him, and it shows that we’re taking Wiltshire very seriously.
“It’s our first time taking on elections here, and we’ve had good responses on the doorsteps. We’re enjoying the campaign and hoping to do well on Thursday.” Cllr Ed Rimmer speaks to Nigel Farage on Brown Street (Image: Newsquest) Cllr Rimmer is standing for election to Wiltshire and the city council.
He said: “I was voted to city council as a Conservative, and I decided that enough was enough with how the party was behaving, and I’ve moved to a party that I think better represents people at a local and a national level. “People want something different. “I’ve been on city council for the last four years.
“I see the way they just pour our money down the drain on things that the general population is not interested in and does not want to do. “I hope we can get some people in – I hope we can get myself back in – and I hope we can try to be a check on that. “We need to make sure the money is being spent sensibly.
”.
