Nigel Farage has vowed Reform UK will take winning London and ousting Mayor Sadiq Khan "seriously" as he warned of a "big rift" in the Labour Party.
The Reform leader encouraged members to volunteer as councillor candidates ahead of the local elections in May next year.
Speaking during his keynote speech at his party's conference in Birmingham on Friday, he said: "All 32 London boroughs are up for election [on May 2] and we will take that seriously."
He added that the party would be “ready to have a mayoral candidate” to take on “Sadiq Khan next time round”.
City Hall elections are not due to take place until 2028. Sir Sadiq is expected to stand down after winning a historic third term as Labour Mayor in a landslide victory last year.
Laila Cunningham, a former Tory Westminster councillor who defected to Reform earlier this year, is reportedly being lined up to be Reform's candidate for Mayor of London.
Mr Farage warned of a "big rift" in Labour and told delegates that he thinks a general election could take place in 2027 - two years earlier than planned.
"We're used to hearing stories of splits in the Conservative Party," he said.
"We're about to witness a big rift in the Labour Party, too.
He added: "Before long, there'll be Labour MPs that reckon they've got a better chance on the Jeremy Corbyn sectarian ticket ... they've got a better chance of being re-elected under that ticket, under Corbyn, than they do under Sir Keir...I think there is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027."
Mr Farage brought his keynote address forward by three hours following the news that Angela Rayner had resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary after revealing she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty when buying her new flat near Brighton.
He said the scandal "screams to entitlement".
"It screams to a government that despite all the promises that this would be a new, different kind of politics is as bad - if not worse - than the one that went before," he said.
He added that Sir Keir Starmer's Cabinet was full of "wholly unqualified people" and joked about Ms Rayner being "an accomplished property developer and speculator.
Mr Farage was introduced on stage by former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns. After he speech he then welcomed ex Conservative culture secretary, and fellow former I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant, Nadine Dorries to the podium.
Ms Dorries announced her defection to Reform on the eve of the conference.
He said it would address a perceived weakness in the party that it lacked experience in government.
Mr Farage said: "In order to get all these policies brought together under one roof - and it's a massive workload - I'm going to ask (Mr Yusuf), from this day, to be our head of policy to bring all of this together.
"I will, in the next few weeks, open up a new department within the party, leaning on the experience that Nadine (Dorries) and others have - and others will come.
"Others with experience will come. Don't worry about that, and we will open a department for preparing for government so that when we win, we can hit the ground running."
