The Reform Party leader Nigel Farage will this week embark on a renewed drive to raise millions of pounds to “professionalise” its operations two months after it won five seats at the general election.
Sky News understands that Mr Farage will attend a fundraising event hosted by Holly Candy, the former Neighbours actress, on Wednesday evening.
The gathering is aimed at broadening Reform’s appeal to potential donors, with a number of prominent businesspeople among those understood to be planning to attend.
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Since Mr Farage took over as party leader, it has attracted 50,000 new members paying a minimum of £25, according to insiders.
Speaking to Sky News, the former UKIP leader said: “Reform is growing fast and rising in the polls but we need to raise real money to professionalise the party.
“Wednesday night is the first step.”
More on Nigel Farage Related Topics: Nigel Farage 1:45 July: New MP Farage defends US visitMrs Candy, who is married to the property entrepreneur Nick Candy, hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in London in June.
The event was said to have raised about $3m for the Republican presidential candidate, and was hailed as the largest such event ever held for the party outside the US.
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Mrs Candy has herself reportedly donated £50,000 to Reform’s coffers.
Reform won a 14.3% share of the vote in July’s election, winning five seats – a ratio which the House of Commons library described as “the most disproportionate [gap between vote share and seat share] in a generation”.