Jim Allister says he has no regrets over Reform pact - despite Farage DUP endorsement

The TUV boss has described the situation as uncomfortable and disappointing – but said his party still has the full backing of Reform, and pointed out that Mr Farage had decided not to endorse the DUP leader and other candidates.

Both Mr Allister and Reform UK have attempted to draw a distinction between Mr Farage acting in a “personal capacity” – and the actions of the party corporately.

He also said the Chairman, and until last week leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, had apologised to him about Mr Farage’s comments.

The Reform UK leader said on Monday that in regard to “the Northern Ireland thing” he will be endorsing the two DUP candidates “as people I fought with all through the Brexit years”.

Mr Allister told the BBC’s Nolan Show on Tuesday: “I acknowledge that it creates a rather incongruous situation. But lets get the facts clear. The party – Reform UK – is backing me and the TUV-Reform Alliance. Nigel, he says, has personally endorsed Sammy Wilson and Ian Paisley. That’s the situation, it’s incongruous, it’s disappointing, but there it is”.

He told Stephen Nolan if he was looking for contradictions, “I could point out that Nigel Farage has nor endorsed the leader of the DUP Gavin Robinson”.

The North Antrim candidate said he wanted to give people a choice to give their verdict on the DUP’s protocol position.

He said that what Mr Farage’s endorsement of Ian Paisley “really means is that he’s saying to the voters of North Antrim: ‘even though the DUP lied to you, told you that the Irish Sea border was gone… when it wasn’t, you should still vote for them’”.

Mr Allister gave more detail on a conversation he had with Nigel Farage last week.

“Last Monday I spoke to Nigel Farage as he took up the leadership. He confirmed that our arrangement stood. The phrase he used was ‘crack on with it’.

“So that was... the conversation last week. And last night the chairman of Reform UK Richard Tice had a conversation with me regretting what happened”.

The TUV leader added: “He apologised for how things have turned out in that regard, and indicated very strongly that our arrangement stands”.

He said a conversation about whether Nigel Farage would endorse him personally had not arisen last week, “but he certainly didn’t endorse anyone else”.

Meanwhile, speaking to the BBC Good Morning Ulster programme, Reform deputy leader Ben Habib denied that the situation was a mess. He said: “The reality is that Ian Paisley and Sammy Wilson are old beer buddies of Nigel’s.

“Nigel has obviously got a hell of a lot on his plate, taking over as leader, trying to get his legs under the desk and they asked him for a personal endorsement and he said ‘yeah, sure’.

“It is one buddy to another without having really thought through the party position.” Mr Habib added: “Reform UK supports unequivocally Jim Allister.

“Ian Paisley and Sammy tapped him on the shoulder at a time when Nigel was obviously busy.

“Being friends he gave them his personal endorsement and that is the end of it.”

The TUV-Reform UK pact had looked like it was about to unravel on Monday afternoon after Nigel Farage gave his public backing to rival candidates.

TUV’s Matthew Warwick is running in East Antrim, as is Sammy Wilson who now has the “personal” endorsement of the Reform UK leader. Jim Allister is the TUV candidate in North Antrim where Mr Farage has endorsed Ian Paisley.

Mr Paisley and Sammy Wilson said on Monday: “Nigel Farage is a household name and we welcome his endorsement as the best pro-Union candidate in our constituencies. Nigel knows us and knows our record of delivering for the people.

“This is a very embarrassing for Jim Allister as the Reform UK leader has endorsed us rather than him because the Reform UK leader recognised that on the big issues we could be relied upon.

“Some people know how to build relationships and deliver results, others just talk about the problems”.

They added: “It’s time for TUV to drop the Reform UK branding”.