Reform UK has announced it will not stand a candidate in the Batley and Spen by-election

Reform UK has announced it will not stand a candidate in the Batley and Spen by-election on July 1 in a bid to boost the Conservative Party's chances of taking the Labour-held seat.

• Batley and Spen by-election set for July 1st

A spokesman for the party said it had held conversations with Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party and Paul Halloran, the independent candidate who took 12% of the constituency vote at the 2019 general election, before reaching a decision.

"Like them we felt no benefit would be served in a by-election that will have some 15 candidates," a spokesman for the former Brexit Party said.

The by-election for the Batley and Spen MP is to be held on July 1st.

It was triggered after Tracy Brabin had to quit Westminster following her election as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire.

The full list of candidates standing in the Batley and Spen by-election so far:

• Kim Leadbeater - Labour

• Ryan Stephenson - Conservatives

• Tom Gordon - Liberal Democrats

• George Galloway - Workers Party of Britain 

• Corey Robinson - Yorkshire Party

• Ross Peltier - Green Party