Nigel Farage is set to meet Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood about his security arrangements
Richard Tice has launched a scathing attack on the mainstream media for their "coordinated smear campaign" against Reform UK.
Speaking to GB News, the party's deputy leader hit out at accusations of Reform MPs "propagandising" Ann Widdecombe's alleged murder following her death.
Expressing the renewed fears for the safety of Reform party figures, Mr Tice said: "Quite understandably, we at Reform and Nigel Farage in particular hasn't wanted to overplay this.
"But given the abuse that we've had over the last few days from parts of the media, saying that we are 'propaganda' and 'propagandising' Ann's death, frankly, I think people just need to understand what we're up against."
Mr Tice declared that the country is facing "political war", accusing the mainstream media of wanting to "wipe us off the map".
He told GB News: "Large chunks of the mainstream media over the last couple of weeks have been in a coordinated campaign to smear, discredit, libel, and use innuendo against Reform, against Nigel, against myself and other senior figures.
"And so, in a sense, we are in the political war, and it is the war of our lifetimes, frankly, and that's how we're viewing it from our side. And we'll just have to deal with it. It's as simple as that."
He made clear: "But if some parts of the mainstream media think they can dumb us down and, politically, just wipe us off the map, then let me tell you, they've got another thing coming to them because Nigel's here to stay. I'm here to stay.
"We're all here to stay, and we will win at the end of the day, whenever we're allowed a general election, and decide who should be the elected Prime Minister of this country."
Asked how he feels about his own personal safety, Mr Tice admitted that his fears have come to an "anguished peak" over the last few days.
He told GB News: "It's far from plan A, and it's come to a very difficult, shocking, anguished peak in the last few days, I guess.
"It's the price of being a disruptor in the world of politics. If you use a corporate analogy, it's a bit like a new product, completely and utterly wiping out the status quo of the two main products that have dominated the market for decades, whether it's in Hoovers or whether it's in smartphone type things. You get the drift of what I'm saying."
Mr Tice added: "It's not what anybody wants to be, but it's a reality check on all of us. I think that there is a degree of shock everywhere within and around the Houses of Parliament where public discourse has got to, and I think it's something we've all got to reflect on very carefully."
Asked by host Martin Daubney if he has also received death threats, the Reform deputy leader stressed that he is "not in the position" Mr Farage is in.
He admitted: "Mercifully, I'm not in the position that Nigel is in, but in the sense I think we don't want to create a league table, and we don't want people to sort of start firing off stuff.
"But we've just got to do the best we can push on and somehow, make the joy of debate and discussion and discourse and free speech and argument a better way. And if there's any legacy to dear Ann, I'm sure she would have wanted that."
Reflecting on Ms Widdecombe's death following confirmation of a "targeted attack" by Counter Terrorism Police, Mr Tice said what happened to his former colleague is "unthinkable".
He concluded: "It's unthinkable, completely and utterly unthinkable.
"And I think news broke this afternoon that just minutes before that brutal attack, she was giving an interview to a Christian radio station.
"And Ann's faith, her strong Catholic faith, was remarkable. It held true and strong, I think, all the way through most all of her life."
