Nigel Farage has declared he will stand to be a Reform MP as he takes over as Reform leader from Richard Tice. The Mail has more.
The Brexit champion announced the U-turn at a press conference alongside previous leader Richard Tice.
As well as taking the helm of the party, he dropped the bombshell saying that he will run for Parliament in Clacton.
Mr. Farage said he was back “for the next five years” – making clear he wants to dismantle the Tories “when they are in Opposition” after the election.
He said “not on your nelly” would he do an electoral deal with the Conservatives, predicting that Reform would win more votes.
It is a huge headache for Mr. Sunak as he tries to claw back ground on Labour. A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll this evening put the Tories on 20% backing, only six points ahead of Reform and a massive 26 points behind Keir Starmer’s party.
Mr. Farage acknowledged that it would be “very difficult” to win from scratch in a constituency.
But he said since the snap election was called he had been talking to people on the streets and observed that “there is a rejection of the political class going on in this country in a way that has not been seen in modern times”.
“I rationally thought this was too difficult. I’ve changed my mind because I can’t let down millions of people,” he said.
“Nothing in this country works… we will only recover our position with boldness,” he said. “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again: I will surprise everybody.”
Explaining his change of heart, Mr. Farage said: “The other thing that really shook me in a way last week were the number of people coming up to me in the street saying ‘Nigel, why aren’t you standing?'”
Richard Tice began the press conference by announcing he was handing over the reins:
How do we turn on the rocket boosters, the turbo chargers, to this campaign? As people know, I wanted Nigel to be able to give as much energy and effort, commitment to this campaign, as he felt able to do. I thought well actually, what I really want to do is to invite Nigel Farage to become leader of Reform U.K.
Explaining his change of mind, Farage said:
Now I stood here, a week ago, and I said look, hands up. I’ve been nonplussed by Rishi calling a short-term election, it doesn’t give me the time to find a constituency, doesn’t give me the time to build up data.
I thought the rational thing to do was not to stand but to do my bit as supporting the party around the country, and for the last week, that is what I’ve been doing. I’ve been travelling all around the country. I’ve had the honour of appearing with Piers Morgan on Question Time amongst other things.
I’ve decided I’ve changed my mind. It’s allowed you know. It’s not always a sign of weakness, it could potentially be a sign of strength.
He added:
Richard is more than happy for me to put my head and shoulders firmly over the parapet and take the flack. So I’m coming back as leader of Reform U.K., but not just for this election campaign. I’m coming back for the next five years.
So our aim in this election is to get many, many millions of votes. And I’m talking far more votes than you got back in 2015 when we when we got four million votes. We’re going to get many, many, many more votes than that.
How many seats in Parliament? Can we win under this system? Well, that’s another matter. And that depends on what momentum we can get from here.
A former Tory Cabinet Minister told the Telegraph that Farage standing as an MP for Reform is “bad news for both major parties, but sadly worse news for the Conservatives”.
This will bring new impetus to the Reform campaign. Farage is arguably the most recognisable figure in British politics apart from the Prime Minister and Boris Johnson. He is an insurgent and will attract votes.
This is bad news for both major parties, but sadly worse news for the Conservatives.
Matthew Goodwin says this is Nigel Farage’s “finest hour” and there are several “open goals” for him in an election campaign that so far has been as “dull as dishwater”:
The palpable anti-Westminster mood. The genuine panic about how to afford life. The creeping sense of despair about mass immigration. The intense anger about our broken borders. The spiralling concern about lawlessness and crime. The rising fear about a dark new sectarianism. The visible erosion of British values and ways of life – particularly since October 7th. And, on top of all that, the deep, unyielding sense of pessimism about where all this is heading – about where this country of ours is heading, about where this place we call home is heading. …
Farage has realised this; many other politicians have not. He has grasped that many people want to have a very different kind of conversation about where we are heading as a society; they have not. He might be criticised by broadcast interviewers and BBC newsreaders as “inflammatory” and at times he certainly is; but already in the opening days of this campaign he’s tapped into this much deeper sense of unease among the British people, this legitimate sense of unease, about what is now unfolding before them.
Can Britain – our shared history, collective memory, identity, values, and ways of life – actually survive in a form that we recognise, respect and want to pass down to our children and their children? How can a national community hold itself together while undergoing unprecedented demographic change, persistent economic decline, and a ruling elite that routinely downplays or derides, rather than defend, who we are?
And who out there, exactly, is willing to push back, seriously, against the growing assortment of radicals and extremists who very clearly loathe who we are, who have no interest in respecting our ways of life? Nigel Farage does not have the answers to these questions. But he is at least willing to talk openly about them. And that in itself gives him an enormous opening.
Stop Press: Can Farage win in Clacton? In 2014, after defecting to UKIP, Douglas Carswell triggered a by-election in Clacton and won. He contested the seat for UKIP in 2015 and won again with 19,642 votes. He was replaced as the UKIP candidate by Paul Oakley in 2017, who only polled 3,357 votes and lost to Giles Watling, the Conservative candidate, who polled 27,031, then held the seat two years later with 31,438. However, the consensus of pollsters, such as James Johnson, is that Farage will win. That’s also the view of the bookies.
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As a non-subscriber,I was able to read the beginning of the Times piece by Dear Ickle Grovelling Janice, who, when asked by some shop dork to put on face knickers, immediately complies with gabbled apologies.
Janice, you are what is wrong with this country. Go bury yourself, still in your filthy knickers.
Hi Annie, is that really you ?
Just finished your piece, yes I think it is, welcome back.
Never been away, but principal place of residence is now Reddit.
From the roundup.
Vaccine permit to visit the pub ?
As a young and middle aged man I spent part of most evenings in the pub, not to get pissed but to socialise and keep in contact with friends (and meet new ones!) before the internet.
During lockdown Lite, ie last summer + going into Tiers, I went out of my way to patronise local pubs and licenced eateries especially those that kept Track’n’Trace to a minimum.
I can now live without pubs and nightclubs so stuff their ‘permit’ though I will attempt entry now and then just to prove my point.
Todays youngsters were already having less sex and visiting pubs less often as a result of growing up on t’interweb, lockdown has reinforced this.
Bye Bye wet pubs but that always was the aim of Alcohol Concern and the like.
The Big Reset. Close all pubs, stop holidaying abroad, stay home and don’t socialise. Only those considered important will be allowed to do what we used to take for granted.
Meanwhile the offspring of rest will be left wondering why their oldies used to actually enjoy travelling abroad and going to the pub ‘to do what exactly’ ?
From the roundup
‘Health Security body gives UK Protective Shield’.
It’s from Hancock so obviously bollocks. I don’t require yet more life unenhancing interventions in the name of Public Health (ie medico facism).
A mishmash of PHE, Track’n’Trace, the JBC and various failed individuals. I suspect its real aim is to wrest (?) control of Public Health policy from the provinces back to Whitehall.
Good luck with fight but let’s get the popcorn out.
I can’t wait until the circular firing squad/blame game/throwing each under under buses. Govt, PHE, SAGE, media. Who lied to who? Who gets the ultimate blame? There isn’t enough popcorn in the world. I expect Anders Tegnell to be investing heavily in corn share futures
sounds like nothing more than pricey “rebranding” to me – same old same old but 4 under one umbrella. Rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic springs to mind.
A Titanic that goes actively looking for icebergs to hurl itself against.
Welcome aboard Ben.
After 12 months ‘opposition’ to the bozo, hancock van tam claque by demanding ‘Sooner, Harsher, Longer Lockdown’ veteran Labour MP for Exter Ben Bradshaw has announced that he will not be voting to renew the Coronovirus legislation because
‘Police State’.
They say a leopard cannot change its spots. Watch this space.
Pic h/t Radio Exe.
The “pubs” have bemoaned for years about the number that close, week in and week out.
If they insist on face nappies and vaccine “passports” then they must have a “mass” suicide wish.
A few weeks into the current lockdown the landlord of my unlovely local pub was reduced to selling tins of unused mixed vegetables and even what appeared to be soft coverings from the limited exterior smoking area.
Whether this was to assist the newly destitute or to raise a few quid to feed himself was not at all clear.
From the roundup
‘I’m Janice, get me out of here !’
Free yourself, stupid bitch. You appear to have benefitted from an enhanced education and from the way you describe your own behaviour you have no faith in lockdown regulations yet the moment you are challenged you kop out and cave in.
No-one is gonna save You Janice, you have to save yourself with your privileged resources.
Couldn’t agree more. Bumsucking little twat she is.
I hadn’t noticed your post about her first Annie.
Cameron Covid Conperson ?
Guardian has it all.
pub owner friend of mine has said after what the government have done to his industry, he spent a fortune ‘making it safe’ only to have it shut again, that anyone is welcome, he needs to make some money. Plus friends who dashed off to get their jab thinking it would get them a holiday this year are feeling angry. The backlash is still to come.
papers for the pub
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56517486#comments
sort by best rated comments and you will see the worm is finally turning
I will not be visiting any establishment that requires I show my ‘papers’ before being allowed in. As much as I enjoy going to my local pub I’ll continue drinking at home.
I’m struggling a bit today with asymptomatic long lockdown.
If we are to have vaccine passports are we also to have HIV test passports too?
If not why not?
If one is ethical, so is the other.
maybe ‘STD free’ tattoos
Health Security body gives UK Protective Shield – Launching on 1st April is all we need to know
Is it an April Fool?
Correct
Perennial fool probably.
For some reason my Reddit has ‘lost’ the Lockdown Sceptics group. Can anyone point me to it?
https://www.reddit.com/r/LockdownSceptics/