Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, has dismissed suggestions that revelations about the party accepting huge donations from very wealthy people are undermining the party’s claim to be acting in the interests of ordinary people. In a Q&A at the Institute for Government, asked if he was worried about people thinking a Reform government would only act on behalf of the rich, Tice replied: “Candidly, no, I’m not worried about that.” Tice claimed that people like to see “successful people leading things” and he said there should be more respect for people who have been successful in business and made money. He also said that Reform did very well in the May elections, which came after the Guardian’s revelation about Nigel Farage accepting £5m from Christopher Harborne, the cryptocurrency billionaire. Tice said that no party was perfect. But he claimed that eight donors to the Labour party have received public contracts worth £150m over the past two years, and he said there should be m