MORE THAN 60 of Nigel Farage’s newly selected Reform UK council candidates for this year’s local elections are Tory defectors, Labour said yesterday.

Labour’s study of candidate nominations by the party ahead of the May 1 elections found that dozens of Reform candidates across Britain have previously served as councillors, candidates, or activists for the Conservatives.

The most high-profile defectors include former Cheshire East Tory councillor Sarah Pochin, now Reform’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election candidate.