Inside the 100-year-old Tory club that defected to Reform

Telegraph

17-05-2025

A plaque has marked the 1927 founding of a Conservative club for the past 100 years.
But now, behind the sign Tory defectors sup £2.60 pints at the world's first Reform UK bar.
The Talbot in Blackpool rebranded this week with a Reform-blue paint job and new signage, marking the first Tory club to turn to Reform UK.
Following sweeping success in the local elections, the party says it is confident more pubs will follow suit across the country as it looks to capitalise on its growing grass roots support.
Pete Flynn and Nick Lowe, the landlords, are awaiting a visit from 'nice chap' Nigel Farage, who promised to drop by once they were up and running.
Punters have flocked from as far as Glasgow, Hull and even Northern Ireland to mark the re-opening.
Mr Flynn, 53, wearing a shirt and Reform-coloured tie, and with a pint in hand, told The Telegraph he was proud to have created the first Reform UK club.
'Labour started off somewhere and the Conservatives started somewhere in the 19th century,' he said. 'Everything has got to start somewhere and we thought we would be the first.
'The reaction we have had has been absolutely fantastic.'
On Wednesday, locals arrived ahead of the official midday opening time to make sure they were settled down in time for Prime Minister's Questions.
Mr Lowe, 56, added: 'People have had enough.'
In this month's local elections, Reform UK took control of 10 councils and won two mayoral races. It also added a fifth MP, Sarah Pochin, in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
Kitted out with two full-size snooker tables, two pool tables for just 50p a play, darts boards, and a couple of fruit machines, The Talbot has all the usual amenities of a social club.
The pie and mash will only set you back £3.20, a popular chicken curry can be had for just £3.50 or £5 Sunday roasts are on offer.
There is also a function room upstairs that can accommodate 80 people, which is set to be used for the Reform's regional AGM.
The owners decided on the fresh rebrand after being approached by Mark Butcher, the party's regional chair, and deciding it was a 'cracking idea' earlier this year.
Mr Flynn and Mr Lowe say footfall and business have increased during the first few days of the pub's new lease of life which they have owned since 2009.
As GB News blared from several screens inside, most pub-goers sat out on the newly painted terrace enjoying their cheap drinks when The Telegraph visited.
Louise Sedoskie, 52, said she was happy with the 'brilliant' rebrand.
'Labour have hurt a lot of people – I think it's disgusting what [Sir Keir] Starmer has done,' the carer said of Government policies including winter fuel and welfare cuts.
'But this will help people come together.'
Steve Atkinson, 64, said the north of England had been 'crushed' in recent years and Reform was the only answer.
'How can a Sir be in charge of Labour, it's a working class party,' he said. 'We have got to see what Reform can do now.
'If Farage can keep the promises he makes I'd be a happy man.'
First-timers Liam O'Brien and Vicky Frost arrived to check out the re-brand, with former Mr O'Brien, a former RAF chief, saying: 'I'm happy with it.
'There used to be more of these places that support the British community.'
Antino Wynn, 27, used to be a Conservative member but said he switched allegiance to Reform following Liz Truss's premiership.
The night porter suggested people were being drawn to Reform after seeing no life improvements during successive Tory and Labour governments.
'In the north and Midlands, where 'levelling up' was supposed to happen, it hasn't brought the prosperity that has been promised,' he said.
'They are looking for an alternative and Reform is the only party saying what people are thinking and feeling.'
For Mr Flynn, who is currently undergoing Reform's vetting procedure to try to stand for the party in the area, and Mr Lowe, it is the party's 'common sense approach' that appeals.
The hopeful candidate said the Prime Minister's 'island of strangers' and subsequent immigration white paper was 'the biggest U-turn in British political history'.
Nick Evans, a 58-year-old factory worker, summed up the mood of pub-goers by saying unpopular Labour policies would leave the party scrambling for votes.
Despite taking over the Conservative club, it is Sir Keir's party at risk from Reform at the next general election in the Blackpool South constituency.
'I don't know anyone that would vote for him now,' Mr Evans said of the Prime Minister. 'It would amaze me if he ever got elected again.'
A Reform UK spokesman said: 'While Conservative clubs are closing down and going out of business much like their party, Reform pubs are on their way.
'The results of the local elections show that there is huge support for Reform right across the country so we are confident the Talbot won't be the only Reform pub for long.'