A Reform UK candidate was made a “unique” offer to stand aside at the election by a political activist with links to his Conservative rival, it has been claimed.
Andrew Southall was contacted by a Right-wing activist who asked to meet him following Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call an early election.
Mr Southall, the Reform UK candidate, received a message from Nick Tenconi, the chief operating officer of Turning Point UK, a controversial pressure group with a mission to “expose the far left and end the tyranny of woke ideology”.
Turning Point UK’s president is Marco Longhi, who is also the Conservative candidate and is defending a 9,457 majority in a bellwether Red Wall seat which he won in 2019.
Mr Southall has told The Telegraph of a meeting with Mr Tenconi in a cafe in Dudley on May 30, eight days after the election was announced, in which he claims Mr Tenconi intimated he could be given two jobs working in Mr Longhi’s office as well as the promise of a safe Conservative council seat at the next local elections.
Mr Southall estimated the total package was worth £40,000 in what will be seen as a form of old fashioned political horse trading.
Mr Southall, 32, said: “It’s very sad and desperate. I met them but I told them I wasn’t interested in standing down. There was no chance I was going to accept the deal.”
In messages seen by The Telegraph, Mr Tenconi first contacted Mr Longhi’s rival on May 22 at 11.30pm, just hours after Mr Sunak had called the general election. Mr Tenconi wrote in a message sent on Facebook: “Hi mate can we have a chat when you’re free.” He included his mobile phone number.
The pair exchanged a conversation on the telephone. Mr Southall said Mr Tenconi was “ambiguous” on that call over his motivation for wishing to meet. Mr Southall had been a paid up supporter of Turning Point UK.
The next day, May 23, Mr Tenconi sent a message by WhatsApp. “Hi mate,” he wrote, “Did you say you’re free from Tuesday onwards?”
The pair then exchanged messages and agreed to meet. Mr Tenconi wrote on May 24: “Plan would be to talk you through a dynamic I see emerging re Reform/Con division and the [General Election] and potentially an offer in there. Note that this is unique to/for you. Certainly wouldn’t be suggesting a meeting in this context if I didn’t think it was for you.”
Three days later, Mr Southall, having taken advice from Reform UK’s headquarters, told Mr Tenconi he was “happy to have a friendly chat in Dudley” but added: “Hopefully, the subject of discussion is post-election given that I’m not standing down, not toning down my campaign and will absolutely be standing on my convictions; as a man of my word I promised all of the above to both Reform UK and individuals counting on me, a long time ago.”
He accepts that he has no independent witness to what was then discussed at 1pm over the course of about an hour.
But he insists he was offered two assistant jobs and a safe seat in the Dudley council elections. Mr Southall, who is self-employed in the business of upmarket car valeting, said Mr Tenconi and another man “pitched it on the premise of Reform and Conservatives working together. I thought it doesn’t hurt to be friendly and go and meet them”.
He said: “At the actual meeting they spent an hour saying: ‘you are going to split the vote. You are going to let Labour in. You have no chance of winning’.
“I didn’t record the meeting but they offered me two jobs and a supposed safe council seat in 2026 and if I stood down I would be £40,000 better off.
“I was so disinterested in the deal. It is very sad and desperate.”
The plan allegedly involved Mr Southall stepping down just hours before nominations were to be lodged with the local authorities, giving Reform no time or notice to find another candidate. That would have allowed Mr Longhi to run in Dudley without facing opposition from Reform.
There is no suggestion that Mr Longhi was aware of the proposed deal or had any involvement in it.
‘Good luck’
On June 3, Mr Tenconi, messaged Mr Southall to request an opportunity to speak further. Mr Southall responded: “Hi Nick, Nice to meet you the other day, I did make clear that I wasn’t going to be stepping down beforehand. My nomination papers are in. It’s done and suited. There wasn’t a chance I was going to stab Richard, Nigel, Ben and everyone else in the back. The people deserve a choice. Marco will have to win fair and square. All best”
The men he made reference to are Richard Tice, the then leader of Reform, Nigel Farage and Ben Habib, a deputy leader of Reform.
Mr Tenconi responded: “Wishing you all the best mate! And good luck to you.”
Mr Tenconi told The Telegraph: “I know the Reform candidate. He’s an avid Turning Point follower. I’m not sure he’s done any activism for us.
“I do know the Reform guy. I forget his first name now. South something. In Dudley.”
He said he could not speak to the Telegraph over “an open line” and could not answer any questions “about specifics”. He requested any questions be put in writing in an email.
Mr Tenconi is also deputy leader of Ukip, the party that was the forerunner to Reform UK and which is now largely moribund.
Mr Longhi denied any knowledge of the alleged offer or the meeting. He said: “I have no clue if this claim is correct. What I do know is that I have never had a conversation with Reform offering them any jobs. The only conversation I have had is when Reform were offering me money to join them. I refused this offer because I am loyal to the Conservatives.”
Sources said he had little to do with the “day to day running” of Turning Point UK, beyond acting as “an ambassadorial figure for them”.
