A Reform UK candidate has disowned the party and is backing the Conservatives amid a row over racism.

Liam Booth-Isherwood, who was standing in the seat of Erewash, announced he was dropping out of the race and would instead be endorsing the Tory contender Maggie Throup to “stop Labour”.

He said he had become “increasingly disillusioned” with the behaviour of the party and accused leader Nigel Farage of not taking it seriously.

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It follows the controversy over a Reform canvasser who was caught making a racial slur about the prime minister in an undercover investigation.

Reform UK has also had to drop several election candidates because of racist remarks they have made.

Mr Booth-Isherwood said in a statement: “I am today announcing my decision to leave the Reform Party and have suspended my campaign as the Reform candidate for Erewash with immediate effect.

“Over the past few weeks, I have been increasingly disillusioned with the behaviour and conduct of Reform.

“Whilst I have campaigned alongside many decent, honest and hardworking people during the course of the General Election campaign in Erewash, the reports of widespread racism and sexism in Reform have made clear that there is a significant moral issue within certain elements of the party, and the failure of the party’s leadership to not only take this matter seriously, but also to fundamentally address it, has made clear to me that this is no longer a party I want to be associated with.

“As a result, I am announcing my endorsement of the Conservative Party candidate, Maggie Throup, for Erewash. Only she can stop Labour.”

Mr Farage has faced criticism from across the political divide for failing to tackle accusations of racism within Reform, which have engulfed the party in recent days.

On Sunday he insisted the “bad apples are gone” from the party and denied “fanning the flames” of prejudice.

The row centres on an undercover investigation by Channel 4 last week which showed Reform activist Andrew Parker using the racial slur “P***” to describe the prime minister, describing Islam as a “disgusting cult”, and saying the army should “just shoot” migrants crossing the Channel.

Another canvasser described the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggested members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.

Reform UK withdrew support on Saturday from three candidates over racist remarks, including one who allegedly said black people should “get off [their] lazy arses” and stop acting “like savages”.

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On Sunday Mr Farage defended his handling of the row, telling Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “Political parties attract all sorts of people. I always think politics brings out the best and the worst in people and I am not fanning the flames of anything. I want unity in this country.”

Pressed on why his party seems to attract people who hold extremist views, the former UKIP leader claimed it was because he had driven the British Nationalist Party (BNP) “out as an electoral force”.

“Ironically, destroying the BNP means people who are minded that way don’t any longer have a home to go to, and so some will gravitate in our direction,” he added.

He went on to say that “anybody who has a racist point of view, I don’t want to know”.

He added: “I want to live, Trevor, in a country that is literally colour-blind. I couldn’t care less what colour you are. I’m not interested in what sexuality you have. Let’s treat everybody equally. That is my agenda.”

‘Bad apples gone from Reform’

Speaking later, to a crowd of 5,000 supporters at his “biggest ever rally” this afternoon, Mr Farage repeated his claim Mr Parker is a “paid actor” and part of a “deliberate attempt to derail our campaign” – something C4 and Mr Parker has denied.

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In reference to the election betting scandal he added: “Have we had a few bad apples? We have, although to my knowledge nobody involved in an organised betting ring is standing for us.

“I have to say, the bad apples are gone. We’ll never have them back.”

The rally came after the prime minister bolstered his attack on Mr Farage, saying he had shown “no contrition or remorse”.

Rishi Sunak on Friday took the decision to repeat the slur made about him to “call out what it was”.

Asked how the Reform row was different to the case of Frank Hester, a Tory donor who allegedly made racist comments about Diane Abbott, he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “The difference is that Nigel Farage has just described these comments [by Mr Parker] as inappropriate.

“They’re not inappropriate. They were vile and racist and wrong.

“The person who made them has only apologised to the Reform Party for the impact it’s had on them. It’s a very clear difference. There is no contrition or remorse and or acceptance of what’s happened in that case.”

Mr Hester, who has donated £15m to the Tory party, apologised for comments he made about Ms Abbott, but claimed they “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Mr Sunak was criticised for the way he initially responded to the allegations about the major party donor, before eventually condemning the remarks as “racist”.

Claims of Russian interference in the general election campaign are “gravely concerning”, the deputy prime minister has said.

Mr Dowden told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that Moscow allegedly using Facebook pages to spread support for Nigel Farage “is a classic example from the Russian playbook”.

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The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) says it has been monitoring five co-ordinated Facebook pages which have been spouting Kremlin talking points, with some posting in support of Reform UK.

Mr Dowden told Sky News: “This is something that I’ve warned about for some time.

“There is a threat in all elections, and indeed we see it in this election, from hostile state actors seeking to influence the outcome of the election campaign.

“Russia is a prime example of this and this is a classic example from the Russian playbook.”

He added that this was a “low-level use of bots”.

Mr Dowden earlier told The Sunday Times: “These revelations reveal the real risk our democracy faces in this uncertain world.

“Malign foreign actors, promoting British political parties, policies and views that fit their agenda is just another example of the challenges in the increasingly volatile cyberspace of the 21st century and is gravely concerning to see during an election campaign.”

The newspaper reported that Conservative chairman Richard Holden has written to Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, and Sir Tim Barrow, the national security adviser, asking for the claims to be investigated.

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According to ABC, the pages appeared to have little in common but were linked through an examination of the location data attached to the pages’ administrators, the tracking of paid ads, and an analysis of the pages’ similar or shared content.

The network of pages has a combined 190,000 followers, each featuring criticism of several UK political parties, including the Conservatives and Labour, the ABC says.

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The broadcaster also reportedly found most of the administrators for each page are based in Nigeria, which is a significant connection as previous online Russian propaganda networks were found to have been operating from Africa.

The reports come after Mr Farage faced a backlash for saying he blames the West and NATO for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Farage called it “cobblers” to claim bots generated by foreign state actors could interfere with the election outcome – as he launched a personal attack on Mr Dowden.

Asked about the deputy PM’s comments, he told Trevor Phillips: “Oh, don’t talk cobblers.

“I mean you had this bland fellow on earlier who apparently is the deputy prime minister, who no one knows who he is, and there he is saying, ‘oh, there are Russian bots involved’.

“Hang on, did you ask him how many millions of pounds his party have taken from Russian sources over the course of the last few years?

“This is the Russia hoax.”

Mr Farage went on to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “very, very dangerous” man.

“I abhor what he’s done in Ukraine. Totally and utterly,” he said.

“But I was far sighted. I saw this coming.”

A Tory student group has apologised after a video reportedly showed its members singing and dancing to a Nazi marching song.

The clip, taken at a chairman’s dinner at the University of Warwick Conservatives Association two weeks ago, shows people singing Erika – a song that was used by the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

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The Sunday Times, which obtained the footage, said it shows several members of the association dancing and laughing as the song plays on the sound system.

The footage ends after one member sees the camera and says: “Don’t film!”, according to the newspaper.

In a statement, the University of Warwick Conservatives Association said it “wholeheartedly condemns the behaviour exhibited during this video and apologises for any offence that has been caused”.

It said most of those in the video “were completely unaware of the origins and connotations of the song”, but the member who asked for the song to be played would no longer be welcome at its events.

The association said a person heard “actively singing lyrics” was not a member but “has been barred from future events along with others”.

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However, it rejected allegations of being a “toxic society” that “normalises racism”.

The association said its members have “consistently campaigned against antisemitism on campus, including campaigning to disaffiliate Warwick Student’s Union from the National Union of Students over its failure to deal with antisemitism”.

“Our members have also worked hard to ensure the Students Union commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day in a fitting way,” it added.

“We are proud of these efforts and will continue to stand against discrimination.”

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The Union of Jewish Students called the video “utterly abhorrent” and a “blatant and unchallenged support for Nazism”, as it called on the Tory Party to take action.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said the student group was not affiliated to it.

“There is no place for racism in the Conservative Party and we will always ensure appropriate action is taken against any member who acts in ways that are not in accordance with our values of tolerance and respect,” the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for Warwick University said: “We have been made aware of this video and the allegations surrounding it, which are extremely troubling.

“Behaviour like this is reprehensible and we are disappointed to see our students involved.

“The university is reviewing the material disclosed to us via our reporting service and has notified the Student’s Union.

“We have requested a meeting with the Jewish Society to assist with our review.”