NIGEL Farage has paid a visit to Exeter to meet and encourage Reform UK candidates in Devon ahead of the local elections in May.

The Reform UK party leader and MP for Clacton spoke to nearly 50 of the candidates standing and their supporters in a conference room at Sandy Park stadium on Monday, April 14.

Mr Farage enters the conference room at Sandy Park to applause
Mr Farage entering the conference room at Sandy Park to applause (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

Voters will go to the polls on Thursday, May 1 to elect members of Devon County Council, even though the council may cease to exist soon amid an overhaul of local government.

The government plans to streamline local democracy by creating large “unitary” councils instead of the county and district council system currently in place in most of Devon.

Reform UK currently has no councillors on Devon County Council and is contesting every single one of the 60 seats available.

Mr Farage thanked the Devon candidates, most of whom have never stood for elected office before, for “putting your heads over the parapet”.

Mr Farage speaking to candidates and supporters
Speaking to candidates and supporters (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

He slammed Devon County Council’s Conservative administration, saying it has gone “completely woke”, spending too much on climate change and diversity and too little on repairing potholes.

“It is disgraceful and it's why perhaps we might do rather better [in the local elections] than anybody thinks,” he said.

The Liberal Democrats will likely be Reform UK’s most formidable opponent in Devon, Mr Farage continued, but said his party could win in seats where Conservative popularity has fallen.

“The Lib Dems are the big challenge here. They're very, very good at building up their local activist base. They're very good at putting leaflets through doors.

“Many of those seats that the Conservatives have held here consistently over the last 20 years, their vote share is going to be significantly down.

“The Lib Dem vote share in those areas is going to be up. And therefore, for us to come through the middle, and to win those seats, you'd be surprised.”

Mr Farage answering questions from candidates
Answering questions from candidates (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

Mr Farage said that people across the nation are “disenchanted” with British politics and “the state of the country”.

“We're in economic decline. We're in societal decline. We're deep in cultural decline,” he said.

“But we're the optimists because we're the ones that believe with the right leadership and the right people we can turn this around.”

Two candidates said they had received a lot of support in Exeter and Barnstaple. Another told Mr Farage she had been coming across many people who think she is racist or on the extreme right.

Mr Farage answering candidates' questions
Answering more candidates' questions (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

“You go down the local pub or wherever you go, and you chat to people about the sort of policy positions that we stand for, and you will find there is a silent majority that agrees with us,” Mr Farage replied.

“All you've got to do is find those that are inclined to feel our way, and persuade them to go and vote on the day because we are genuinely the agents for change.”

Mr Farage speaking to the BBC at Sandy Park
Mr Farage speaking to the BBC at Sandy Park (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

Devon County Council is the only complete authority holding elections in the county, although by-elections are taking place on the same date in Exeter.