Ann Widdecombe says she turned down Reform's offer to stand as MP for one simple reason
EXCLUSIVE: The former Tory MP believes her new party is well-placed to pick up several seats with Nigel Farage at its helm.
Nigel Farage demands to be included in BBC election debate
Ann Widdecombe has said Nigel Farage’s return to the political fray has “put some fire” into what was previously “the dullest general election campaign on Earth”.
But fans of the former Tory minister and Brexit stalwart will be disappointed to learn she resisted Reform UK’s attempts to persuade her to run for Parliament herself.
Ms Widdecombe, the former Conservative MP for Maidstone, who served in several ministerial roles in the Government of John Major, will be campaigning for Reform over the course of the next few weeks
She confirmed Reform’s leaders had tried to “twist her arm” into standing - but said: “I was absolutely determined I wasn't going to because I'm 76
“It isn't so much the parliamentary work I mean, that's fairly straightforward.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
“But I think what people don't realise is how huge the constituency work is and you have to be there every single weekend.
“And you know what, I live in Devon.
“The casework is ginormous, the sheer volume of correspondence now that we've got email, and it's not it's not even as it was when I left, never mind as it was when I joined.
“The thought of doing that from scratch again, hiring staff and so forth, was just too much.”
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Times and published yesterday suggested Reform (on 19 points) had overtaken Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party (18 points) for the first time.
Ms Widdecombe believes Mr Farage and his colleagues are now well placed to pick up several seats, not least Clacton, where he is standing himself.
Asked to assess the significance of the 60-year-old replacing Richard Tice as the party’s leader, she said: “It's put some real fire into it.
“We shot up several percentage points when it was announced and it’s livened up the campaign, which until then, it was the dullest thing on Earth. And of course, it's shocked the Conservatives.”
Don't miss...
Super-communicator Nigel Farage makes Starmer and Sunak look like total rookies [INSIGHT]
New Express poll crowns overwhelming winner of explosive election debate [ANALYSIS]
Nigel Farage and Nicky Campbell clash as he insists 'you want this argument' [PICTURES]
She predicted: “We will certainly win more than Clacton. I've been in seats that I expect us to win.
“It is not quite what I was expecting a couple of months ago, put it like that.
“I think it's really at the point where he's going to make a major impact. I'm certainly hoping so.”
Turning her attention to her old party, Ms Widdecombe pinpointed Mr Sunak’s decision to skip a D-Day commemoration on Omaha beach in Normandy and come back to UK for an ITV interview as a particularly disastrous gaffe.
She asked: “Who is advising him? It was an international event.
"The Foreign Secretary was there. What did he say, what did the Defence Secretary say?
“Surely somebody somewhere said ‘look at the optics Prime Minister’?”
Suggesting Mr Sunak “lacked political savvy”, Ms Widdecombe continued: “He should never be Prime Minister. He should never have led the party so early.
“And it's just symptomatic of chaos that they’re in. The party is full of people who just simply haven't got the experience and the gravitas.
“I just don't understand what they're what they're about anymore. It is a shambles, a serious shambles. And I think they need to be thoroughly pulverised.”
