to frontline politics and will run as a candidate in the general election for the reform uk party, which he will now also lead. he s to contest the seat of clacton in essex, his eighth attempt to become an mp, having previously said he wouldn t run in this election. but he s changed his mind because he said he didn t want to let millions of people down. he also predicted that labour would win the election, and that as a member of parliament, he could provide more of an opposition to sir keir starmer than the conservatives, whom he claims are incapable. lucy manning has all the details. mr farag, are you standing? we will find out in the mr farag, are you standing? we will find out in the moment, mr farag, are you standing? we will find out in the moment, won t - mr farag, are you standing? we will find out in the moment, won t we? | find out in the moment, won t we? why have you changed your mind? who says why have you changed your mind? who says i why have you ch
concerning local people. this evening, we ll hear from anna whittaker, who s in stoke on trent, but first, david delday is in kirkwall in 0rkney. david. it s well over 500 miles from here to do in london. we are much closer to do in london. we are much closer to scandinavia, norway roughly 300 miles in that direction. yes, voters in 0rkney and shetland often feel quite far away from the centres of power. but these islands also punch well above their weight, traditionally in things like farming, fishing and oil and gas, or more recently with the booming cruise industry and in the development of marine renewables. now, 0rkney produces far more power than people here actually use. domestic wind turbines and solar panels are just about everywhere, and there are plans for giant windfarms with turbines taller than skyscrapers, both on land and at sea. energy is a hot topic.
the fierce wind which creates that power means it takes more electricity to heat our homes. fuel poverty is amongst the worst in the country and energy bills are often double the uk household average. six candidates have announced they are standing. a liberal mp has been returned here at every general election since 1950. we lost you there david. thank you for that. now over to anna in stoke. you join me live from stoke on try on it, in the former heart of the red ball. stoke on trent. there are three seats up for grabs here and they ve always been dominated by labour mps until 2019, when voters in their droves took a chance on borisjohnson and the conservatives. the tories made history that night,
winning all three seats in stoke for the first time. but could the tides be about to change? well, boundary changes to all three seats could make a difference in this election, and one of those 2019 mps is standing down. jo gideon for stoke central will not contest her seat. the main issues i hear time and again here are around immigration and the nhs. stoke is famously known as the home of the pottery industry, but the prolific use of a synthetic drug called monkey dust and the number of empty buildings here are big concerns for locals. the polls are suggesting labour will take all three seats here. clearly, stoke will be one to watch as a key election battleground for the next month. 0k, anna, thank you for that, reporting for as they from stoke. reporting for as they from stoke. reporting for as they from stoke. reporting for us. and many of you have been telling us you want to be more involved