Reclaim Party

In September 2020, Fox attracted funding for a new political party, provisionally called Reclaim,[1][2] and dubbed "UKIP for culture".[3][1] It emerged in October 2020 that the party name had yet to be successfully registered with the Electoral Commission as there was a naming conflict with the "Reclaim Project" of Manchester, an established charity giving opportunities to working-class children.[4] The name Reclaim Party was approved in February 2021 as an identity mark for Brexit Express, a previously registered party.[5][6]

In March 2021, Fox announced he would stand in the London mayoral elections, in order to "fight against extreme political correctness" and to "end the Met's obsession with diversity and inclusivity".[7][8] His candidacy was endorsed by Reform UK, who stood aside for him in the election, and Nigel Farage.[9] The major source of Fox's campaign funds was Brexit backer Jeremy Hosking,[10] who, in the first quarter of 2021, gave the Reclaim Party more than £1,000,000 in cash and services.[11]

In the mayoral election, Fox finished in sixth place with 47,634 votes (1.9 per cent), losing his £10,000 election deposit.[12][13]

The party stood one candidate, Leo Kearse, in the Scottish Parliament election, held in May 2021. In Glasgow Pollok, Kearse received 114 votes (0.3 per cent).[14]

Martin Daubney, the deputy leader of Reclaim, was the party's candidate in the 2021 North Shropshire by-election.[15] Daubney is a former Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2020, and a former journalist and editor. He finished seventh with 375 votes (0.98 per cent), losing his deposit.[16]

During the by-election campaign, a Market Drayton town councillor defected to Reclaim; this was the party's first representative in UK local government.[17][18][19]

In December 2021, newspapers reported Hosking would continue to fund the Reclaim Party.[20]