Reform Abandons Manchester Mayoral Push for Farage's Clacton Seat

Reform UK activists in north-west England were ordered Wednesday to abandon campaigning for Greater Manchester's mayoral byelection—a 250-mile diversion—to support Nigel Farage's snap Clacton contest set for 6 August. The move cuts into a race Reform had hoped to contest seriously, having won 106 council seats regionally in May. An internal Reform councillor called the reallocation a sign the party was "desperate" to support Farage and did not believe it could win Manchester outright.