“You came 3rd in the one election that you stood in!"

Labour’s Margaret Hodge has taken apart Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice, as the pair clashed on Sky News over discussions about how much of an impact the populist right-wing party could have on the upcoming general election.

The debate came after Tory MP Lee Anderson had the whip withdrawn after making Islamophobic and bigoted remarks about the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Anderson told GB News last week that that ‘Islamists’ had ‘got control’ of the mayor of London. His Islamophobic comments were slammed by Khan as well as senior Tories including Sajid Javid, who branded them “a ridiculous thing to say”.

However, Anderson has since refused to apologise and even hinted that he could defect to Reform UK. The right-wing, anti-immigration party has grown in prominence after securing more than ten percent of the vote in the recent by-elections in both Wellingborough and Kingswood.

Much attention has also been given to whether Reform UK could further damage the Tories, causing a split in the Tory vote.

Asked by Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge if she thought Reform was influencing the debate in Westminster, Hodge replied: “I think it’s influencing the debate in the Conservative Party, because they’re worried that if there’s more votes for Reform it could be that more seats fall to Labour”.

Hodge went on to claim that Reform did not have a clear set of policies, before going on to tell Tice: “You came 3rd in the one election that you stood in… and your great, glorious president or whatever you call him, he’s had more elections than I’ve had hot dinners, and he’s managed to lose every single one…so I’m not sure there’s really a genuine threat from you.”

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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