Ben Habib has revealed that he has a volunteer army of 200 people “and counting” unleashed on the Wellingborough by-election as he tries to cause a political earthquake which could bring Rishi Sunak’s Premiership down.
The Reform UK candidate has given an exclusive interview to Express.co.uk following his declaration that the by-election in Brexit heartlands is “a referendum on the Sunak government”.
It comes as Tory MPs have privately said they are looking closely at the two by-elections on February 15 to decide whether or not to move to oust the Prime Minister and replace him with a new leader.
Currently, Mr Habib is third favourite among the bookies at 16/1 but his odds have tumbled in a week from 66/1 and he warned: “The bookmakers may have under-estimated my support”.
Labour are the clear favourites on 1/7 and the Tories a distant second on 9/2 despite holding a majority of 18,540 in the 2019 election with more than 32,000 votes.
Mr Habib told Express.co.uk that he has had a huge welcome since arriving in the constituency.
He said: “Everybody seems to know who I am and what Reform is and what we stand for. Everywhere I go people come up to shake my hand or hoot in support as they pass in their cars.
“I get the odd bit of abuse but that’s only to be expected and it still shows that they recognise me.”
He went on: “Many former Conservative voters have come up to tell me how fed up they are with this government, how angry they are about immigration and the high tax and spend.
“There is a real feeling that apathy which defined previous by-elections has now given away to a mood of real anger with Rishi Sunak con-socialists.”
Mr Habib has seen his former Brexit Party MEP colleagues such as Ann Widdecombe and Reform leader Richard Tice join him in the campaign as well as Brexiteer former Labour minister Kate Hoey.
But his real asset has been the number of volunteers who have quickly signed up to help him campaign.
He said: “We already have 200 people helping. There is a real sense of purpose. We are getting more signing up by the day.
“It is a real sign of how much people want change.”
He went on: “I am optimistic. I know i am coming from a long way behind but I think there is a chance we could win which would be a seismic result. But I really also think I could push the Conservatives into third.”
Habib is holding events each evening across the two towns of Rushden and Wellingborough in the constituency and in surround villages.
He said: “They are packed out. There’s a huge appetite to hear what we have to say.”
Meanwhile, after Sir Simon Clarke’s demand that Rishi Sunak quits as Prime Minister last week, a senior Tory MP has confided that colleagues are looking at the two by-election results.
The MP said: “We don’t expect Reform to win i n Wellingborough but there is a real concern that we will come third which would be catastrophic. Those two by-election results on February 15 could be enough to spur my colleagues into sending in the letters needed for a vote of confidence.”
Meanwhile, Tory MPs are largely being kept away from Wellingborough despite the high stakes.
The by-election was called after Peter Bone, a leading Brexiteer, was suspended and then subject to a recall position. His partner Helen Harrison, a fellow grassroots Brexiteer campaigner, has been named as the Tory candidate.
One Conservative MP said: “It’s very strange how we are not being asked to go to Wellingborough in the same way as we are fighting Kingswood. A lot is riding on the result.”
