Nigel Farage visited Blackpool on the campaign trail (Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Reform UK is eyeing up yet another seaside town as its leader Nigel Farage is now odds on to win the Clacton constituency in Essex - one of the most deprived coastal resorts in England. According to Ladbrokes, the top Brexiteer is a sure favourite with 1/7 odds of becoming a MP after failing in seven previous elections, with the Tories a distant third behind Labour.
Nearly 300 miles away on the opposite side of the country, two of his candidates are fighting to take over Blackpool for the right-wing party, which is surging in the polls - and is even ahead of the Tories in some parts of the country, according to some polling models. The latest shock MRP poll hinted that Reform could win as many as 18 seats on July 4, with Nigel Farage so optimistic of his chances in Blackpool that he held a huge rally there last Thursday, June 20.
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Positive about their prospects, Dan Barker, the Reform candidate for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, and local man Mark Butcher, his Blackpool South counterpart, say their plans for an incredible new ￡50m film studio and their desire to reinstate the town's airport as a commercial hub, is winning them votes on the doorstep. But they face a mammoth battle to win the seats from the Labour and Tory incumbents who both hold sizeable Parliamentary majorities.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Butcher, who was previously crowned Blackpool's "Man of the Year", and founder of local soup kitchen Amazing Graze, argues that the North of England has been "underserved" for years in terms of film production facilities. He said: "The majority of film studios are concentrated in the South, leaving a significant gap in the North. This has forced many local productions to outsource to Europe due to the lack of suitable facilities in the region."
Mr Butcher's other priorities include ending homelessness and tackling poverty and the cost of living crisis in Blackpool.
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Reform UK candidates for Blackpool Mark Butcher, left, and Dan Barker (Image: Dave Nelson)
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Meanwhile Mr Barker, who polled nearly 50,000 votes for Reform UK when he ran against Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester's Mayoral race earlier this year, added that due to the nature of Blackpool and other seaside towns like it, it means that lots of the jobs are seasonal in the tourism and hospitality industries - which results in young people moving away to find work elsewhere, with those who stay struggling during the quieter months of the year.
He also claimed that people in Blackpool are "sick and tired" of the Tory Government, and are desperate for an alternative.
Two of the pair's main priorities, if elected, are seeing Blackpool Airport reinstated as a commercial hub, as well as attracting a top film company to set up in Blackpool, providing much needed all-year-round jobs and work for local residents.
Pensions Minister Paul Maynard is defending Blackpool North for the Tories (Image: Vincent Cole)
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The current frontrunners in the Blackpool South and Blackpool North and Fleetwood election races are Labour's Chris Webb and Lorraine Beavers - but Reform UK are currently polling closely behing the Tories when it comes to second place.
The Tory candidate in Blackpool South is the relatively unknown Zak Farhan Khan, while Pensions Minister Paul Maynard is fighting for the Tories in Blackpool North and Fleetwood as the incumbent, having represented the area from 2010 until Parliament was dissolved last month. During his time as MP, he says he has secured "hundreds of millions of pounds" worth of levelling up funding for the town.
He adds that he is committed to restoring the rail connection to Thornton and Fleetwood, as well as protecting the greenbelt from housing development in the area. while working to deliver a masterplan for Fleetwood's docks.
Both Blackpool seats in the House of Commons are being defended by Labour (Image: Getty)
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The Blackpool South seat was most recently contested at a by-election on May 2, 2024 where Mr Butcher came in third place for Reform UK, just 117 votes behind the Tories - but quite some way behing Labour.
However, this was before Nigel Farage took over as the party leader, which has resulted in Reform surging in the polls in many parts of the country, with Mark Butcher now claiming that, in Blackpool, "a vote for the Tories is a vote for Labour" - but, Rishi Sunak and the Tories have repeatedly insisted that voting for Reform UK could guarantee Sir Keir Starmer enters Number 10 Downing Street after the General Election on July 4.
Mr Butcher's campaign has not been without its controversy, though, as he was forced to deny allegations that his soup kitchen was used to promote his campaign after the Charity Commission launched an investigation.
Blackpool South was held by Labour between 2014 until 2019, when Gordon Marsden lost his seat to Conservative Scott Benton, with the Tories winning by a majority of nearly 4,000 votes. But Benton's resignation earlier this year triggered a by-election which saw the third-biggest swing from Tories to Labour since the Second World War, with Keir Starmer's candidate now defending a huge majority in the seat, which is home to the Blackpool Tower, the Pleasure Beach as well as the town's airport.
Reform UK could win up to 18 seats in the House of Commons, according to a shock MRP poll (Image: Dave Nelson)
Dan Barker, who plans to move to the constituency of Blackpool North and Fleetwood if elected, added: "I want to create opportunities for businesses and make opportunities for the town's children.
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"I look at the opportunities I had in the 90s and the early noughties when I was finishing university and stepping out into the world of work and I just took thos for granted. I've got kids now, and those same opportunities aren't there. I want to make sure that the opportunities are getting better, not worse and I think that's what we're about, it's that change with Reform UK."
Mr Barker, who works in defence and also volunteers as a magistrate, says he wants to help the people in the area with better bus connections, and has launched a petition to put pressure on Blackpool transport, to ask for extension of bus routes to Fleetwood. Among his other priorities include bringing the Poulton to Fleetwood railway line back to life and tackling the Jameson Road "landfill crisis" in his constituency.
He added: "I'm one of the silent majority, and I got into politics because I'm sick and tired of politicians running this country down and wanting to take away our freedoms. Reform UK are th eonly party that's offering solutions to real problems, like the impact of amss imigraton on housing and public services, the scandal of boats int he English Channel and the NHS."
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