Farage says Reform can challenge Labour on Merseyside
BBCNigel Farage has pledged that Reform UK will give the Labour party a "run for their money" on Merseyside in the upcoming local elections, and the political map across the north-west of England will "look very different" after the poll.
During a visit to Southport, he said the party had its sights set on challenging Labour's "massive majority" in Sefton and St Helens councils.
All seats are up for grabs in those two authorities, with a third of seats in Halton and Knowsley, also Labour-run, set to be contested on 7 May.
Farage said Reform had shown it was "financially prudent", and would challenge council reforms that "favour big cities at the expense of rural and coastal areas".
The party said it had kept tax rises lower than other parties in councils it already controlled.
Reform currently has one elected representative on Sefton Council and three councillors on St Helens Council.
Farage said he was confident Reform UK would perform well after "we stunned everybody, including ourselves" with success in the Lancashire County Council elections last year.
When asked whether Reform could win outright in either Sefton and St Helens, he said: "I don't know, I honestly don't know, but are we going to give Labour, with their massive majority here in Sefton, a run for their money, absolutely."
He told the BBC he was planning to meet more than 100 Reform candidates in the North West as part of his local election campaigning.
Farage admitted that he had mixed expectations of success in some parts of Greater Manchester.
Earlier this month, Labour's Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham claimed a vote for Reform UK in the local elections could threaten regeneration projects in Greater Manchester.
He urged voters to resist "taking out their frustrations" with national politics on "hard-working local councillors".
But Reform said they offered "better stewardship of council taxpayers' money".
Farage told BBC North West: "There are parts of Greater Manchester that are very bad for us, but equally parts that are very good for us.
"I'm not going to pin it down but in Tameside perhaps, might be one that you'd favour for us.
"But I don't want to overly raise expectations, but what I will say is the map of local government will look very different after 7 May across the North West."
Farage said Reform planned to challenge any moves to reshape local government that would "favour the big cities at the expense of rural and coastal areas".
In Lancashire, Reform has one councillor each in Preston, Pendle, and Chorley, where a third of seats will be contested, as well as contests in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, and West Lancashire.
Farage said Lancashire County Council, which his party took control of in May last year, had been a Reform success, despite complaints about issues such as the management of potholes.
He said Reform was focusing on long-term fixes to the problem and urged voters "to judge us in a few years".
He admitted Reform did suffer from a lack of political experience at council level in some areas, but that new people coming through the party had "energy and enthusiasm".
"You can't wave a magic wand through local government - I've never pretended that we could, but can we do things differently? Absolutely."
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