Nigel Farage has announced a wave of local politicians defecting to Reform UK as the party gears up its push for success in council elections in May.

Nigel Farage is set to make a major announcement at a Reform UK press conference today. The Reform leader is due to speak from Westminster at midday. The press conference will also be attended by Reform chairman Zia Yusuf, deputy leader Richard Tice and Reform MPs Lee Anderson and James McMurdock.

The Reform UK leader says the party had become "increasingly concerned" about the behaviour of one of its members, now suspended MP Rupert Lowe.

Reform UK has accused Rupert Lowe, one of its MP s, of threatening Mr Yusuf, and has reported him to the police, who say they are investigating. The party has also appointed a senior lawyer to look into claims of bullying in his office. Reform UK has also suspended Mr Lowe, reducing its parliamentary strength to just four.

A third of Reform UK voters think the party would be doing better if it were not led by Nigel Farage, a new poll has found. It come after a dramatic split in Reform UK over the last week, with MP Rupert Lowe being kicked out of the party and reported to the police a day after accusing Farage of acting like “the Messiah”.

A key ally of Nigel Farage has teased that the Reform leader could be up for firing his chairman in a bid to bring an end to the party's civil war. Raheem Kassam made the shock revelation just ahead of positive polling revealed that Reform could be crowned the winners of the May local elections.