'Reset and go again' for Reform UK’s candidate after Mid Beds by-election

After coming fifth in last week’s Mid Bedfordshire by-election, it’s “reset and go again” for the Reform UK’s candidate.

The candidate, Dave Holland, (1,487 votes) said that the general election, which must be held before January 28, 2025, will be “very different”.

“[The constituency] will be a smaller area, everybody will have the same money to spend, and everyone’s activists will be busy in their own patches,” he said.

“So it’ll be more of a level playing field.

“My plan is to keep going, keep pushing, and I’ve built up quite a lot ofgood will so far.

“18 months ago when I knocked on the doors and spoke to people and said I’m the Reform Party candidate I got quite a lot of ‘who are they?’, now I don’t.

“People seem to know who the brand is now, and it takes a long time to build a party,” he said.

“If I was to look for the wins and the successes that we’ve had to date, I’ve registered the most votes of any Reform UK candidate in a by-election, even though it was a smaller percentage share,” he said.

“It is still the most votes, which is progress of a kind.

“So I think we’ve laid good foundations for the general election,” he said.

Holland acknowledged there is still a long way to go, but that he and the party are committed to “working hard”.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to win people’s ultimate trust to show that we’re a safe pair of hands to risk their vote with,” he said.

“We’re always going to face success begets success, people won’t vote for you until you’ve already succeeded.

“Once we get past that hurdle and I there will come a breakthrough by-election when the pendulum swings [towards us].

“I don’t know if it was my naivety or just enthusiasm in hoping it was going to be these by-elections, but we’re not there yet.

“We’ve got a lot more to do, a lot more to achieve.

“Keep on keeping on, that’s the plan,” he said.