Nigel Farage has insisted he will not be driven out of politics, as he vowed to fight a “cancel culture” committed to destroying his party. He said a “really, really nasty” campaign against him stepped up a gear following Reform UK’s local election victories in May, when it gained control of 14 councils.
Death threats and intimidation
Speaking to the Express in the run-up to Thursday’s by-election in his Clacton constituency, the Reform UK leader said the onslaught had gone beyond anything he expected when he returned to politics full-time in 2024. “I didn’t expect to spend as much time as I now do with counter-terrorism. I didn’t expect to receive hundreds of death threats over the course of the last few months. I didn’t expect all of that. I mean, look, as I say, I know it’s a rough game. I’ve been around a hell of a long time. I mean, I am the sort of surviving veteran of all of this. But no, it’s been really, really nasty.”
Mr Farage insists he will not back down in face of attacks (Image: Victoria Jones/Shutterstock)
Reform had become a target for left-wingers who objected to the party’s very existence, he said. But it was also seen as a threat to an establishment that had ruled the UK for a century.
Cancel culture and establishment
“We’ve seen over the last decade or so, cancel culture. I’m afraid that deep intolerance from the modern left is now of a level where they literally want people of a sensible centre-right just not to exist, not to be able to say anything. And there’s something else going on here, too. We have had, basically since the end of the First World War, two parties dominate British politics.
“One runs it for 10 years, then it’s ‘your turn, old boy. You have a go’. What’s happened is we’ve come along as a massive challenger, led hundreds of opinion polls, and it almost feels like they don’t want us in the game.”
Mr Farage insisted voters in Clacton understood why he felt the need to resign as an MP, prompting the by-election in which he hoped to be re-elected. It followed media stories about his finances, and a Parliamentary investigation into a £5 million gift received before he became an MP.
Voters to be the judge
He said: “It’s as if there’s been a pile-up from the entire establishment on a level I’ve never seen anything like it. And it’s like every day you wake up and you’re guilty of something.” Mr Farage said he decided “I’ll ask the voters, because they see the news, they see the media. I’ll say to the voters of Clacton, ‘you decide, you be my judge’. Let the people decide. And most people I speak to get it.”
A record 34 candidates are standing in Clacton, believed to be the highest number ever in a Parliamentary seat. However, with the major rival parties refusing to take part, opposition to Mr Farage has coalesced around the comedy candidate known as Count Binface, the alter-ego of comedy writer Jonathan Harvey.
Conservative absence and polling
Mr Farage said Conservatives had insulted local voters by failing to stand a candidate in the constituency, where they won 72.3% of the vote in the 2019 general election. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said Tories will stand if a second by-election takes place - which could happen if the Parliamentary inquiry finds Mr Farage did break House of Commons rules.
National opinion polls showed Reform well ahead of any other party for a period of more than 12 months, but more recent surveys suggest backing for Labour has risen under Andy Burnham’s leadership.
Confidence in winning
However, Mr Farage remains confident that he can eventually become Prime Minister. “Politics is a game of snakes and ladders. Anyone that tells you they can read the tea leaves and know exactly where we’re going to be in a year’s time, that’s not possible. But I still think that the strength of Reform support is across the board. And I think after the absolute battering we’ve had from every angle, you know, we’re still there. So yeah, I’m still very confident we can win the next election.”
He’s made no secret in the past about his hopes of replacing the Conservative Party as the main party on the right of British politics. However, while polling shows the Tories consistently in third place, their support has not collapsed.
Mr Farage put this down to the Conservative Party’s 200-year history, and their support in parts of the media. But he added: “As the next general election hovers into view, if we’re in a situation where genuinely Reform are the challenger to Labour, then I think you’ll find half that Conservative vote will come to us.”
Rival right-wing party
A potential fly in the ointment is what appears to be a surge in support for Restore Britain, a rival party on the right led by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe. Mr Lowe has said he is willing to speak to Mr Farage to patch up their differences, although there is no sign of a rapprochement so far.
Mr Farage admitted the existence of a rival right-wing party could hurt Reform’s election chances, but accused Restore of admitting members with “extreme” views. He highlighted Steve Laws, who claims to be a Restore member and donor and told a Jewish journalist he should be forced to leave the country.
Mr Farage did not criticise Mr Lowe personally, but said: “Not so much him, but some of the people around him, have said things that are pretty extreme, or very extreme, and there is a market for that. It’s not a huge market, but there is a market for that.
“Equally, I’m sure the majority of people who say, ‘yes, I like Restore’, are not like that. They’re decent people out there.”
He would attempt to convince Restore supporters to switch to Reform, Mr Farage said. “We have to make the argument to them ... that if you go in that direction, you make it less likely that we’re going to win.”
A Restore Britain spokesperson said: “Restore Britain does not police lawfully-held opinions of our members. They endorse our position, we do not necessarily endorse their views.”
