Reform has also said a “well-known Labour figure” will defect to the party next week.

Former Labour MP and Brexit campaigner Baroness Kate Hoey, who has sat as a non-affiliated peer since 2020, is among those rumoured to be a possible defector.

Asked if she could join Reform, Tice – who stood in for Farage due to illness – told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that Baroness Hoey was “a wonderful person” and “a good friend” but refused to confirm whether she would defect.

Baroness Hoey has not said whether she plans to defect or not, but told Sky News she had not been a Labour member for more than eight years and was “not sure I’m that well-known”.

Some commentators have suggested senior Tory defectors could prompt power struggles within Reform, with Jenrick touted as a possible shadow chancellor, along with Tice and Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf.

Asked if he would be happy to see Jenrick as shadow chancellor, Tice said the party had “a great range of talent” and Farage would “make his decision about different roles at the appropriate time”.