Former Tory Dan Barker has defected to Nigel Farage's Reform UK
The Conservatives have 'given up on Greater Manchester and the North' according to the man they picked to stand against mayor Andy Burnham in May. Dan Barker, who was the Conservative candidate, has defected to Reform UK.
He wrote to the party chairman and the Prime Minister after George Galloway won the Rochdale by-election, arguing that this would have ramifications beyond the constituency. But he was not satisfied with the response. "I was being realistic. I basically got told there's no money, you'll get very little - and certainly no ministerial visits."
Responding to his Labour opponent, Mr Barker said that his new party - which was set up by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage - is 'about Britain for all of its communities with the same values and principles'. A Reform UK spokesperson said: "Dan has realised the way the Tories treat their candidates is the way they treat the country, with contempt.
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