Nigel Farage serenaded in the street on campaign visit
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was serenaded by a potential voter as he visited Runcorn to campaign ahead of the by-election.
The politician spent about 15 minutes walking along Church Street in the Cheshire town with the party's candidate, Sarah Pochin, on Monday afternoon.
Reform UK is hoping for victory in the previously safe Labour seat of Runcorn and Helsby, where a by-election was called after MP Mike Amesbury stood down following his assault conviction for punching a constituent.
Mr Farage stopped to shake the hands of passers-by and posed for selfies as he walked along the shopping street.
Resident Alan Ayres got out his guitar after speaking to Mr Farage and he and a friend launched into a rendition of The Kinks song Sunny Afternoon as the delighted politician clapped along.
The song, which begins with the line 'The tax man's taken all my dough', was released in 1966 and referenced high levels of tax introduced by the Labour government of the time.
Mr Ayres told the politician: 'I love what you do, mate, and I love the stuff you say and what you're saying. It's what Britain needs.
'I don't mean to be rude but we don't need Keir Starmer, we don't need that.'
As Mr Farage walked along the town's promenade to do media interviews, one passing driver shouted: 'Go on Farage, lad. Send the f****** back.'
The former I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant said he did not trust early polling which predicted a win for his party, but told the PA news agency: 'All I can say is it's Labour's 16th safest seat, they're only nine months in to a landslide government, it's a must-win for them.
'We are, by our estimates at the moment, maybe a little bit behind but it really is a little bit.
'It's going to be very very close and, boy, if we win this, this will be one of the most dramatic by-elections of modern political history.'
Candidate Ms Pochin was previously a Conservative councillor in Cheshire East.
But Mr Farage said there were as many former Labour supporters standing for Reform UK as ex-Tories.
He said: 'We've got people from the centre-right and the centre-left that support this party.
'The reason we're doing so well is there are many millions of us who think that economically and societally this country is going downhill and it needs a change of direction.'
The by-election is the first Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government has faced since coming to power and will be held on May 1, along with local elections across the country.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
37 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Badenoch says organisations should be able to decide if staff can wear burkas
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said employers should be able to decide if their staff can wear burkas in the workplace. Mrs Badenoch also said people who come to her constituency surgeries must remove their face coverings 'whether it's a burka or a balaclava'. Advertisement Ms Badenoch posted a video on X of part of her interview with the Telegraph, in which she said: 'My view is that people should be allowed to wear whatever they want, not what their husband is asking them to wear or what their community says that they should wear. 'I personally have strong views about face coverings. 'If you come into my constituency surgery, you have to remove your face covering, whether it's a burka or a balaclava. 'I'm not talking to people who are not going to show me their face. Advertisement 'Organisations should be able to decide what their staff wear for instance, it shouldn't be something that people should be able to override.' She added that France has a ban and has 'worse problems than we do in this country on integration'. On Wednesday, Reform's newest MP Sarah Pochin asked Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions whether he would support such a ban. Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said his party has 'triggered a national discussion'. Advertisement Asked if he wants to ban burkas, Mr Tice told GB News on Sunday: 'We've triggered a national discussion. I'm very concerned about them (burkas). 'Frankly, I think they are repressive. I think that they make women second-class citizens. 'We're a Christian nation. We have equality between the sexes, and I'm very concerned, and if someone wants to convince me otherwise, well come and talk to me. 'But at the moment, my view is that I think we should follow seven other nations across Europe that have already banned them.' Advertisement He called for a debate on the topic to 'hear where the country's mood is'. Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said 'employers should be allowed to decide whether their employees can be visible or not', when discussing face coverings. Asked on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme if the Conservative Party's position is not to speak to people who cover their face, Mr Philp said of Mrs Badenoch: 'Well she was talking specifically about her constituency surgery I think, and it is definitely the case that employers should be allowed to decide whether their employees can be visible or not. 'But I don't think this is necessarily the biggest issue facing our country right now. Advertisement 'There's a legitimate debate to have about the burka. 'You've got, obviously, arguments about personal liberty and choice and freedom on one side, and arguments about causing divisions in society and the possibility of coercion on the other. 'That is a debate I think we as a country should be having, but as Kemi said, it's probably not the biggest issue our nation faces today.' Asked if he would talk to people who would not show their face, the Croydon South MP said: 'I have in the past spoken to people obviously wearing a burka – I represent a London constituency – but everybody can make their own choices, that's the point she was making, each employer should be able to make their own choices.'
STV News
an hour ago
- STV News
Swinney tried to ‘push people into arms of Reform', claims Sarwar
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has accused First Minister John Swinney of 'attempting to push people into the arms of Reform', following the Hamilton by-election. During a heated exchange with journalist Martin Geissler on BBC Scotland's Sunday Show, Sarwar branded questions put to him as 'embarrassing' and suggested Geissler was asking about a 'fantasy world'. Sarwar repeatedly described the SNP campaign – which urged voters they could only stop Reform by voting SNP – in the run-up to last week's poll as 'dishonest and disgraceful'. Labour's Davy Russell gained the seat from the SNP with 8,559 votes, while SNP candidate Katy Loudon came second on 7,957, ahead of Reform's Ross Lambie on 7,088. Before the vote, Swinney had claimed 'Labour are not at the races' and he described it as a 'two-horse race' between the SNP and Reform. Speaking on Sunday, Sarwar said: 'The best John Swinney had to offer after 18 years was 'vote SNP to stop Farage' – a dishonest, shameful campaign.' He said it showed a 'lack of ambition' from a Government 'running down the clock', and he claimed commentators had been 'embarrassed' by the result. Sarwar added: 'Frankly, your questions are embarrassing too, Martin.' The broadcaster responded: 'I think you should be slightly embarrassed.' PA Media Prior to the vote, John Swinney had claimed only SNP candidate Katy Loudon could stop Reform (PA). Sarwar said he had spoken to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Friday following the victory, and the Scottish leader said he wants to see the two-child benefit cap removed 'as fast as possible'. He told the BBC that Labour aims to 'improve growth' and bring mortgage rates and energy bills down to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis. He added: 'Maybe you don't have a mortgage Martin, but people do have mortgages across the country. 'There have been four interest rates cuts because of economic stability and those four interest rates cuts have meant that the average mortgage is down by over £1,000. 'We've started to see energy bills come down, but those need to come down much quicker, because people feel a real pressure in the cost-of-living crisis.' He said voters had 'utterly rejected the SNP and Reform and sent a message to John Swinney that he ran a dishonest and disgraceful campaign that attempted to push people into the arms of Reform rather than confront the issues he has caused in people's communities'. He added: 'That's why, ultimately, people want them removed from office.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Rachel Reeves is the new Steve Jobs, says Cabinet minister
A Cabinet minister has been ridiculed for comparing Rachel Reeves to the creator of the iPhone. In an attempt to defend Labour's spending plans, Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, said the Chancellor was fixing the public finances in much the same way Steve Jobs saved Apple from the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s. Mr Kyle's comments prompted a swift backlash from the Tories, who argued it was ridiculous to liken Jobs's achievements to Ms Reeves's record tax rises on businesses. The Chancellor launched a £40 billion tax raid in her first Budget last year, including an increase in employers' National Insurance contributions. At the spending review on Wednesday, she will announce departmental budgets for the next three years. The process has involved a significant amount of wrangling behind the scenes as ministers attempt to dodge expected real-term cuts. Challenged on where the money was coming from for his department, Mr Kyle told the Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips show on Sky News that the Government is going 'to be investing record amounts of money into the innovations of the future '. 'Just bear in mind how Apple turned itself around … when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, they were 90 days from insolvency,' he said. 'That's the kind of situation that we had when we came into office. Now, Steve Jobs turned it around by inventing the iMac, moving to a series of products like the iPod. 'Now we are starting to invest in the vaccine processes of the future, some of the high-tech solutions that are going to be high growth. We're investing in our space sector … they will create jobs in the future.' Mr Jobs, who co-founded Apple in 1976, was credited with rescuing the company from collapse in 1997, when it teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the face of competition from Microsoft. He died aged 56 in 2011 after a long battle with cancer. At the time, floods of tributes described him as a 'visionary' whose impact would be felt for many generations to come. Labour has long blamed 'difficult' decisions on tax and spending on the 'dire' state of the economy they inherited from the Conservatives. However, the Tories claimed that comparing Ms Reeves to Mr Jobs was inappropriate. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, told The Telegraph: 'Labour are plumbing new depths of delusion. Steve Jobs, creator of Apple and the iPhone, improved life for billions of people. 'In contrast, Rachel Reeves has trashed the UK economy, spending billions of pounds that we don't have in the process. 'This comment just shows Labour have not the faintest understanding of business.' Greg Smith, the shadow business minister, added: 'Kyle's comments are a little far of the mark. 'Steve Jobs created a mega international business from scratch and Rachel Reeves is actively preventing anyone doing that in the UK, ripping businesses apart, increasing tax and red tape. Apart from that, yeah, they're identical.'
