Nigel Farage: Conservatives facing ‘extinction event’ and he’s aiming to replace them
Nigel Farage believes it’s possible to replace the Conservative Party with his own Reform Party as he predicts an “extinction event” for the government at the next election.
Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby at the launch of the Popular Conservatism (PopCon) group in Westminster.
Headlined by former prime minister Liz Truss, the group claims it is not looking to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservatives, but instead spark a debate on ideas.
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Asked which party he wants to be in, Mr Farage said: “Oh Reform, no question about it.”
Speaking in a room full of Conservative MPs and activists, he added: “I think at some point in time a lot of the people here today will draw the same conclusion.
“And… I know it’s only once every hundred years these things happen, but I do think we face the possibility that this could be the end of the road for the Conservative Party.”
He added: “They’ve been around since 1834. They’re now facing a possible extinction event, and they know it.
“I think PopCon makes six families now of backbench Conservative MPs – they are bitterly divided.
“I don’t know what the outcome of all of this is going to be, but we do, for the first time ever, think it’s possible to replace them.”
He later added: “I want the Conservative Party replaced.”
Who are the Reform Party, where did they come from and what are their policies?
Ms Truss spoke to a room of Tory MPs and activists. Pic: Reuters
The Conservatives are continuing to languish in the polls, with an average deficit to Labour of around 20 points.
Meanwhile, Reform is trending upwards, and is now on level pegging with the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Farage added that, while he worked with the Conservatives in 2019 – facilitating an 80-seat majority – he now wants “nothing to do with” them.
Speaking about the common policy grounds he has with the PopCon group, Mr Farage said: “There is a clear majority in the country for border controls, a huge demand amongst nearly six million people running their own businesses to get the regulators off their backs and free them up.
“These are the things that leading Conservative figures and Reform figures agree on.”
Among the Tories who addressed the conference were Ms Truss, Lee Anderson and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Between them, they challenged the government’s position on smoking bans, the approach to net zero, the European Convention on Human Rights, tax and quangos.
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Ms Truss said the current government was failing to take on “left-wing extremists”, and also encouraged “secret Conservatives” to come forward to campaign and stand for the party.
Also in the audience were former home secretary Priti Patel, ex-chief whip Wendy Morton, former Tory Party chair Sir Jake Berry, Brendan Clarke-Smith, and Tory peer Lord Frost.
Sir Jacob told Sky News that he would like to see the UK leaving the ECHR as part of the next Conservative Party manifesto – but did not believe Mr Sunak would do that.
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In response to assertions he is a member of the unreachable political elite, Jacob Rees-Mogg acknowledged he has a ‘very fortunate background’, but insisted he is advocating what people want.
The former business secretary said in his speech that the “age of Davos man is over” – a reference to the World Economic Forum meeting held in the Swiss town of Davos.
Asked whether he – as someone who went to Eton and worked in finance – was part of the elite, Sir Jacob told Sky News that he makes “no bones” about being from a “very fortunate background”.
He went on to say that what he wants to see is more power given to parliament and not arms-length bodies so there is more accountability for his constituents.
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Sir Jacob disagreed with Mr Farage’s assessment of the Conservative Party’s future, saying that he believes it will “carry on a bit past Nigel Farage”.
“I don’t mean to criticise Nigel, but the Tory Party has a very long history,” he added. “It manages to keep on going – it’s rather the Duracell bunny of political life.”
Altcoins may see a resurgence in the second quarter of 2025 as regulations for digital assets continue to improve, according to Swiss bank Sygnum.
In its Q2 2025 investment outlook, Sygnum said the space has seen “drastically improved” regulations for crypto use cases, creating the foundations for a strong alt-sector rally for the second quarter. However, it added that “none of the positive developments have been priced in.”
In April, Bitcoin dominance reached a four-year high, signaling that crypto investors are rotating their funds into an asset perceived to be relatively safer.
But Sygnum believes regulatory developments in the US, such as President Donald Trump’s establishment of a Digital Asset Stockpile and advancing stablecoin regulations, could propel broader crypto adoption.
“We expect protocols successful in gaining user traction to outperform and Bitcoin’s dominance to decline,” Sygnum wrote.
Increased focus on economic value ignites competition
Sygnum also said that competition would increase as the market focuses on economic value. Increased competition in a market often results in better products, ultimately benefiting consumers:
“The market’s increased focus on economic value compels greater competition for user growth and revenues, with rising protocols such as Toncoin, Sui, Aptos, Sonic, or Berachain taking different approaches.”
Sygnum added that while high-performance blockchains address limitations of the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana blockchains, these chains find it challenging to achieve meaningful adoption and fee income.
The report highlighted that some approaches have been more sustainable. These include Berachain’s approach of incentivizing validators to provide liquidity to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, Sonic’s rewarding developers that attract and retain users, and Toncoin’s Telegram affiliation to access one billion users.
Aside from layer-1 chains, Sygnum highlighted that layer-2 networks like Base also have potential. The report pointed out that while the memecoin frenzy on the blockchain pushed its users and revenue to new highs, it made an equally sharp decline after memecoins started losing steam.
Despite this, Sygnum noted that Base remains the layer-2 leader in metrics like daily transactions, throughput and total value locked.
Related: Italy finance minister warns US stablecoins pose bigger threat than tariffs
Memecoins still a leading crypto narrative in Q1
Despite recent price declines, memecoins remained a dominant crypto narrative in Q1 2025. A CoinGecko report recently highlighted that memecoins remained dominant as a crypto narrative in the first quarter of 2025. The crypto data company said memecoins had 27.1% of global investor interest, second only to artificial intelligence tokens, which had 35.7%.
While retail investors are still busy with memecoins, institutions have a different approach. Asset manager Bitwise reported on April 14 that publicly traded firms are stacking up on Bitcoin. At least twelve public companies purchased Bitcoin for the first time in Q1 2025, pushing public firm holdings to $57 billion.
Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express
It was perhaps not quite how officials, in London at least, had envisaged the announcement of the state visit would be made.
In the Oval Office, Donald Trump revealed the news in his own way.
“I was invited by the King and the great country. They are going to do a second fest – that’s what it is. It is beautiful,” he said during an impromptu Oval Office moment.
The question was, did this “fest” – which Mr Trump suggested could happen in September – amount to the much hyped second state visit for the American president?
Or was this actually just the smaller visit that had been offered two months ago as an initial bilateral visit at which the state visit would be discussed?
Back in February, Sir Keir Starmer presented the president with a letter from King Charles and the offer of a state visit.
The letter proposed an initial meeting between the King and the president to discuss details of the state visit at either Dumfries House or Balmoral, both in Scotland, close to Mr Trump’s golf clubs.
The King wrote: “Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom… As you will know this is unprecedented by a US president. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.”
As he revealed the news of his “fest” with his “friend Charles”, Mr Trump said: “I think they are setting a date for September…”
Sources have since confirmed to Sky News that it will amount to the full state visit.
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Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
‘Even more important’
It’s possible the initial less formal presidential trip may still happen between now and September. Mr Trump is in Europe for the NATO summit in June and is due in Scotland to open a new golf course soon too.
“It is the second time it has happened to one person. The reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William,” the president said.
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one. The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
His last state visit in 2019, at the invitation of the late Queen, drew significant protests epitomised by the giant blow-up “Baby Trump” which floated over Parliament Square.
The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
Britain’s trump card
September is a little earlier than had been expected for the visit. It may be an advantage for it to happen sooner rather than later, given the profoundly consequential and controversial nature of the first few months of his second term.
The decision by the British government to play its “state visit trump card” up front back in February drew some criticism.
And since February, Mr Trump’s position on numerous issues has been increasingly at odds with all of America’s allies.
On Ukraine, he has seemingly aligned himself closely with Vladimir Putin. His tariffs have caused a global economic shock. And on issues like Greenland and Canada, a member of the Commonwealth, he has generated significant diplomatic shock.
A risk worth taking
Mr Trump is as divisive among the British public as he is in America. Sir Keir is already walking a political tightrope by choosing the softly softly approach with the White House.
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The UK government chose not to retaliate against Mr Trump’s tariffs, unlike some allies. Sir Keir and his cabinet have been at pains not to be seen to criticise the president in any way as they seek to influence him on Ukraine and seek an elusive economic deal on tariffs.
On that tariff deal, despite some positive language from the US side and offers on the table, there has yet to be a breakthrough. A continuing challenge is engaging with the president for decisions and agreements only he, not his cabinet, will make.
British officials acknowledge the risk the state visit poses. In this presidency, anything could happen between now and September.
But they argue British soft power and Mr Trump’s fondness for the Royal Family and pomp – or a “fest” as he calls it – amount to vital diplomatic clout.
For a special relationship under strain, a special state visit is the tonic.
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