The leader of the Reform UK party, Richard Tice, has warned Rutland of 'Starmer-geddon' if Labour wins this year's general election.

Mr Tice was speaking at a meeting on Tuesday 21 May, to launch the election campaign of Christopher Clowes, the Reform UK candidate for Rutland.

The meeting was held at Rutland County Museum where the main auditorium, which holds 180 people, was almost full.

Mr Tice said: "I went to school in Uppingham, and my children also went to school in Uppingham, so it feels very much like a home from home to me."

He said Reform UK candidates, including Mr Clowes, need to be out in the Rutland and Stamford area knocking on doors and telling people "there is hope, that Britain is a great nation".

He added that the message of the evening was that reform is needed at every level of the economy, healthcare, immigration, law and order, defence, culture and education.

"People here in Rutland, like people up and down the country feel totally let down by the Conservatives," he said.

He added that if Labour were elected there would be "Starmer-geddon for this nation".

Christopher Clowes said he expected to change the area's Conservatives to Reform UK voters because "Rutland is a county used to change".

He cited the building of Rutland Water 50 years ago as an example of this, and Rutland independence, which happened 27 years ago.

He added: "So, when it comes to changing the minds of the voters of Rutland, a lot of people here, who I am listening to, are fed up with their services being cut, the buses not reaching their villages, and the community facilities being closed.

"There is a long history in this county of the Conservative-led, and now Liberal-led council, closing facilities like the leisure centre, complaining they don't have the funds to run them anymore. That's exactly the sort of thing that angers voters.

"This is a rural area, a certain way of life. People move here for a rural community lifestyle, and my message to those voters is that I am all about protecting that, and that they can change their vote to ensure that protection."

Mr Clowes had been chosen as Reform UK candidate for Rutland following the removal of Ginny H. Ball in March for a comment suggesting a British-born Asian BBC radio presenter should "emigrate to a black-only country".