'Expect to see Reform standing in Northern Ireland after election surge' says former UUP leader
A former Ulster Unionist leader has said he expects to see Reform stand candidates in Northern Ireland.
Sir Reg Empey, the one-time First Minister and current UUP peer, made the comments in the fall-out from last week’s elections in Great Britain, which have called into question Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of Labour.
In the English council elections, and those to the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments, Reform surged into the lead, largely at the expense of Labour.
Sir Reg said that Northern Ireland is now “the missing link” if Nigel Farage wants to claim Reform as a truly UK-wide party – though he warned about what such a move might mean.
“My guess is he might be looking to set up the party here,” Lord Empey said.
"I think he’ll try to play the card that he’s the only national party.
"He did well in Scotland, did well in Wales, and I imagine he might see a potential over here…
"We’re the missing link.
"I believe he’s a core of supporters here: Ian Paisley Junior was out canvassing for his candidates in London, and I believe recent polls have indicated that quite a number of unionists would be prepared to back him.
"He clearly has plenty of money.
“So I think it’s a real possibility.”
But he added such a move “could potentially splinter unionism” and “could do quite a bit of damage”, especially if splinter groups like Ben Habib’s Advance also stand.
Lord Empey recalled that, when Richard Tice was leader, Reform had a pact with the TUV, but then Farage “ratted on it and decided during the general election to change course and back two DUP candidates against TUV candidates – which caused a lot of trouble”.
He also added that Farage “is effectively an English nationalist, and his brush with Northern Ireland affairs has been problematical – the famous ‘up the Ra’ video and that sort of thing”.
This is a reference to the time in 2024 when an unsuspecting Mr Farage was gulled into using the phrase in a paid-for video on the platform Cameo.
As for what the replacement of Sir Keir will mean for unionists in the meantime, Lord Empey said “it heralds a period of considerable uncertainty”, adding that none of the prosepctive candidates “have expressed any particular interest in Northern Ireland affairs, other than a broad-brush party agreement to support the Good Friday Agreement”.
Reform has been asked if it is considering setting up candidates in Northern Ireland, and a response is awaited.
In the English council elections, Reform ended up winning 1,454 seats from a starting point of almost nothing.
Labour won the next highest number, with 1,068.
However, that is 1,498 fewer than the number of seats they had previously.
In the Welsh Parliament, Labour lost 35 of its 44 seats, leaving it third place behind Plaid Cymru (43) and Reform (34).
In the Scottish Parliament, Labour lost four seats (taking them to 17) and the SNP lost six (taking them to 58), with Reform gaining 17 seats, having had none at all before.