Nigel Farage backs Laurence Fox in London mayoral race

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Nigel Farage and the Reform party today threw their support behind actor and activist Laurence Fox to become the next Mayor of London.

The former Brexit Party leader hailed “a new patriotic alliance” between supporters of “a free nation” who were opposed to continuing lockdown and policies such as low-traffic neighbourhoods.

Mr Fox, who is running under his own Reclaim Party banner, and Reform UK Leader Richard Tice shook hands on the mutual support deal in Hyde Park this morning, sealing it with a handshake by the statue of St George.

Mr Farage said: “It feels highly appropriate that on the eve of St George’s Day, a new patriotic alliance between Reform UK and the Reclaim Party is being announced.

“As the aims and objectives of the two men are so similar, this is the grown-up thing to do and I support it.

“With the big Brexit battle now over, the fight is about what kind of country people want to live in: a free nation or a semi-authoritarian regime? This debate needs to happen very quickly. I wish Laurence Fox and Richard Tice all the very best.”

Mr Tice and his deputy David Bull are standing for the London Assembly but are not fielding a candidate for Mayor. In return for their endorsement of Mr Fox, the Reclaim Party will back them for the Assembly list.

Laurence Fox
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Actor and activist Mr Fox said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive Nigel and Richard’s support in the race to be the next Mayor of London.

“With the challenges we face to our basic freedoms now so grave, it is only by standing together that we stand a chance of reclaiming them.”

Mr Tice said he was “thrilled” to back Mr Fox and said: “It is time for London to begin embracing life after lockdown … Business owners and employees alike have been economically crippled by an endless cycle of restrictions, it is time to say enough is enough and ensure London is the economic heartbeat of the UK once more.”

Twenty candidates are vying to become Mayor, representing almost all shades of political opinion in the capital.  Londoners head for the polls on May 6 with a result due the following day.  The contest was delayed a year by the Covid pandemic.

A business group today begged all mayoral candidates to put small firms and the self-employed at the heart of their recovery strategies.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said that after an “incredibly hard” year they needed faster grants and plans to get shoppers back to high streets. It said the scourge of late payments of bills had got worse during the pandemic.

“After an incredibly hard year we are at a critical moment,” said Ian O’Donnell. “The Government’s road map has provided small firms with some certainty and confidence moving forward, but to ensure reopening is successful, it must be powered by collaboration and innovation.”