Crisis-hit Nigel Farage has turned to the man who researched Lord Michael Ashcroft’s controversial books – including one on him – to rescue his struggling Reform UK operation.
Just 24 hours after a BMG poll suggested a Burnham-led Labour would end Reform’s long-running lead in the polls – putting them one point ahead – Mr Farage unveiled Miles Goslett as his new chief of communications.
It comes after a series of setbacks for Mr Farage’s party, including donation scandals and defeat to Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election.
Mr Goslett has, until recently, been working as a Tory peer and Lord Ashcroft’s researcher. He has helped with a series of books by the peer, including hit jobs on former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (Red Queen?) and soon-to-be former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer (Red Knight).
He was also involved in writing critical books of current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch (Blue Ambition) and former prime minister Rishi Sunak (Going for Broke).
But most recently, he has been helping Mr Ashcroft write a book on Mr Farage called The Farage Factor.
A Reform source said Mr Goslett will “not work on day-to-day press inquiries.”
They said: “He’s doing longer-term stuff – opposition research, substack and other things. He’s a massive addition.”
Mr Farage, who recently pulled out of an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg at the last minute, is believed to be looking at his own channels on social media and a podcast to convey his message where he can avoid difficult questions.
Previously as an award-winning journalist, Mr Goslett made a name in right-wing circles pursuing the BBC and ran the London bureau of Rupert Murdoch’s anti-woke website Heat Street.
Mr Goslett arrives at a time when Mr Farage has abandoned his near weekly press conferences amid questions over his undeclared £5m donation from Thailand based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and questions over a failure to declare his five homes.
The party has slipped from a high point of 35 per cent in the polls last year to around 24 per cent in recent polls.
While Reform gained 1,452 English council seats and came second in both Wales and Scotland in the elections in May, allies of Mr Farage believe they lost out on another 500 seats because of rhetoric about “mass deportations” regarding immigration.
Then, last month, they were heavily beaten by Mr Burnham in a target seat Makerfield, where just weeks before they had won every council seat.
The Makerfield by-election highlighted a continued issue with candidate selection after it emerged that their candidate Robert Kenyon had a controversial social media history.
The party’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf, who has been having an ongoing spat with Treasury spokesman and Tory defector Robert Jenrick, told BBC Question Time that he had been blocked from running in by-elections.
