UK Politics

In his Today interview Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, restated his ambition to take over as leader of the opposition to Labour in the next parliament. He said that by the time of the next election he wanted to be the person most likely to replace Keir Starmer as PM.

He told the programme:

This is our first big election as a party. Our plan is to establish that bridgehead in parliament and to use that voice to build a big, national campaigning movement around the country over the course of the next five years for genuine change.

Asked by Justin Webb if that meant Farage was aiming to be a credible candidate for PM in 2029, Farage replied:

Yes, absolutely.

I think the disconnect between the Labour and conservative Westminster-based parties and the country, the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of ordinary people, are so far apart from where our politics is. And the funny thing is they show no signs of changing.

I was in those seven-way debates, one on the BBC, one on ITV, and the more that Angela Rayner argued with Penny Mordaunt, the more they sounded the same. There are no real, fundamental differences between these two parties.

Farage also said that, when he decided to stand as a candidate and to take over as Reform UK leader, he was making a “minimum five-year commitment” to build this movement.

Asked if he was committed to leading “a centre-right coalition” taking on Labour at the time of the next election, Farage replied: ‘That’s absolutely right. That’s our ambition and we believe it is achievable.”

Many commentators would query whether any movement led by Farage would be described as “centre-right”. For reasons explained here, the terms radical right or far right might be more accurate.

Some Tories would like see Farage playing this role as Conservative party leader (assuming he would be allowed to join). Some of his Reform UK colleagues just want to replace the Conservative party. Farage himself has suggested the two parties could merge in what he has called a reverse takeover. In the Today interview he was not asked about the exact mechanism by which he envisaged leading a rightwing opposition in five years’ time.