A Reform candidate has suspended her campaign and defected to the Tories, saying the “vast majority” of others standing for Nigel Farage’s party are “racist, misogynistic, and bigoted”.

Georgie David, the Reform candidate for West Ham and Beckton, said she did not think the senior leadership of the party was racist.

But she said: “As the vast majority of candidates are indeed racist, misogynistic, and bigoted, I do not wish to be directly associated with people who hold such views that are so vastly opposing to my own and what I stand for.

“I also have been significantly frustrated and dismayed by the failure of the Reform Party’s leadership to tackle this issue in any meaningful way, and their attempts to instead try to brush it under the carpet or cry foul play.

“As such, I have now suspended my campaign with Reform, and I am endorsing the Conservative Party – I would encourage all of my fellow patriots to do the same.”

It comes two days after Reform’s candidate in Erewash also defected to the Conservatives over racism concerns.