Profile Is 'pound-shop Farage the right man to lead party?

Just four months ago, Richard Tice was described as a "pound-shop Nigel Farage" by a prominent Conservative MP.

- Rowena Mason

That MP, Lee Anderson, would two months later defect to Tice's party, Reform UK, after being suspended from the Tories for suggesting the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, was controlled by "Islamists".

Tice and Anderson have now appeared alongside each other on the top deck of a turquoise Reformbranded battlebus and in video clips, preaching the same refrain that they "want our country back".

However, Anderson's old criticism is still a cutting one. Tice has fronted and bankrolled Reform for three years with £1.4m of loans, and without much practical help from Farage. Yet in terms of name recognition there is no contest, with 73% of the public saying they know who Farage is, compared with just 16% for Tice, according to an Ipsos Mori survey from March.

Tice may be less well known than Farage but his modest profile has been growing among the millions of new viewers of GB News and TalkTV, where the politician has been a presenter and appears regularly as a guest.

Colleagues of Tice say regular TV presenting has made the once stiff and Tory-looking businessman more "match-fit" for giving interviews. While Tice resists comparisons to Farage, his style of speech is increasingly similar, using political catchlines from the former Ukip leader that were regulars on the campaign trail in 2015 to 2019.

However, one former colleague of the Reform leader says a key difference between the two men is that Tice is "much more prickly" than Farage. "It's amazing that Reform is doing so well without him being really the right person for the job," they said.

A Reform source says Tice has "undoubtedly changed" in the past few years. Whereas he came in trying to run the party like a business, he realised it was reliant on volunteers and goodwill and toned down his leadership style, says one person involved in the party. "He has earned a lot of loyalty by turning up and being there," the source said.