Nigel Farage sets out plan for ‘reverse takeover’ of Conservative Party
Nigel Farage has ruled out doing a deal with the Conservatives after announcing he is standing to become an MP – as he set out his goal for Reform UK to effectively take over the Tory Party.
After taking over as leader of Reform UK on Monday, Mr Farage accused the Tories of betraying his party.
The former head of UKIP had ruled himself out of standing in this general election but made a U-turn after saying he had a “terrible sense of guilt” for not putting himself forward to be a candidate.
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Mr Farage will be standing as the Reform UK candidate in Clacton, Essex – the eighth time he has tried to be an MP, having never previously succeeded.
A YouGov poll for Sky News, published on Monday, has the Conservatives likely to win Clacton but that was before Mr Farage announced he was standing.
Asked if he would do a deal with the Conservative Party, Mr Farage told the BBC’s Today programme: “There are no circumstances whatsoever.
“We have been betrayed by a Conservative Party I have given considerable help to.”
In the 2019 election, the Brexit Party – Reform’s former name – did a deal with the Conservatives where they did not field any candidates against the Tories in the 317 seats they had won at the previous general election, in an attempt to ensure Labour or the Lib Dems did not take those seats.
He agreed the deal after Boris Johnson committed to leaving the EU by 2020 and pursuing a Canada-style trade deal.
Reform UK is set to increase its share of the vote compared with the last election but it is still only predicted to take 10.1%, according to the latest YouGov poll for Sky News.
Mr Farage said he intended to win “millions” more votes than UKIP had as he tries to make Reform the official opposition.
Reform may not win more than a few seats but they could contribute to the Conservatives losing even more seats to Labour.
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Mr Farage – who has taken over from Richard Tice as Reform UK leader – said he did not want to join the Conservative Party but told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I think the better thing to do would be to take it over.”
He said: “You can speculate as to what’ll happen in three or four years’ time, all I will tell you is if Reform succeed in the way that I think they can, then a chunk of the Conservative Party will join us – it’s the other way around.”
Mr Farage pointed to Canada, where “Reform did a reverse takeover of the Conservative Party, rebranded it and Stephen Harper – who was elected as a Reform MP – became the Canadian prime minister for 10 years”.
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The newest YouGov poll shows Labour on course to win a historic landslide, with an expected 194-seat majority on 5 July.
It would be the highest number of seats of any party at any election since Stanley Baldwin won a Conservative majority of 208 in 1924.
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Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield quits Labour – criticising Sir Keir Starmer in resignation letter
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Rosie Duffield. Pic: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters
Sir Keir has faced backlash after a Sky News report revealed he had received substantially more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
Read more:
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She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.
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