The Greater Manchester Mayoral candidate for the Conservative party has joined the Reform party, claiming that his old party has “given up” on the northern regions of the country.
In May, Dan Barker, the Conservative nominee, was scheduled to run against Labour’s Andy Burnham, the incumbent mayor.
On Thursday, though, he declared his intention to join Reform UK, following in the footsteps of fellow senior Tory Lee Anderson, who left earlier this month.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr. Barker claimed that the Conservatives had given up on the north in favor of concentrating on southern seats that the Liberal Democrats were threatening.
He remarked, “I really believe that they have given up on Greater Manchester and the north of England.”
“It’s evident from within the party that their true motivation is to fortify the blue wall in the South East and South West, as they fear the Liberal Democrats will destroy them.”
According to a Tory source, the party needs to be “realistic” about its chances.
In order to prevent the party from splitting the Leave vote in some seats, as it did in 2019 when it was known as the Brexit Party, party leader Richard Tice has ruled out standing away.
In the past month, a number of candidates have lost to Reform, including Nick Davies in North Bedfordshire, Ginny Ball in Rutland and Stamford, David Carpin in Henley and Thame, Benjamin “Beau” Dade in Swindon South, and Roger Hoe in Beverley and Holderness. Despite its success in drawing defections from the Tories, Reform has also lost a number of candidates.
