Meet the "young" 86-year-old Reform UK campaigner fighting to get pensioners their winter fuel payments back

Mr Ward - the father of East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward - says the decision to remove winter fuel payments from thousands of pensioners has partly inspired his campaigning

The father of Labour's East Midlands Mayor is not giving up on campaigning for Reform UK having recently contested an election for the party aged 86. Frank Ward, the father of Claire Ward, secured around 22% of the vote when standing for Reform in Bassetlaw at the recent general election.

Mr Ward said at the time that if elected, he would have been the oldest new MP to have entered the House of Commons in history. Having described himself as "a very young 86", Mr Ward is continuing to campaign for Reform in Bassetlaw and says the party will contest upcoming Nottinghamshire County Council elections in May.

Mr Ward says the government's recent decision to remove winter fuel payments from thousands of pensioners is one of the issues that has inspired him to continue campaigning. The Bassetlaw Reform UK chairman said: "The hypocrisy of the Labour government beggars belief.

"Sir Keir Starmer, using a Labour Party report in 2017, cautioned the Conservative government about the risk of nearly 4,000 pensioners dying from hypothermia if they removed the winter fuel allowance. Seven years later and now in office, the report has been ignored and they are prepared to risk pensioner genocide by government decree."

The Prime Minister has said that tough decisions are needed to stabilise the economy and that because of his commitment to the triple lock on pensions, the amount being received by the elderly will be increasing next year. Mr Ward said he also feels there are concerns about illegal immigration in the Bassetlaw district, citing fears in particular about the government "forcing an undisclosed allocation of illegal immigrants" on the area - something there is no evidence of.

Mr Ward added: "The Bassetlaw branch of Reform UK will also begin the process of selecting candidates to stand for election to the county council in May next year and if elected, Reform UK support from the people of the Bassetlaw community will then be translated into positive action." Previously confirming Mr Ward was her father, Labour's East Midlands Mayor said: "I love my dad, but we don't always agree on politics."