Farage: It’s possible I could become PM

Published

4 months ago

September 20, 2024

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Nigel Farage has spoken about his aspirations as Reform UK party leader and insists he could become prime minister.

He told Sky’s political correspondent Darren McCaffrey the prospect of taking over at Number 10 at some point “may not be probable, but it’s certainly possible”.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Reform UK annual conference in Birmingham, he also described his intention to change the party and make it more democratic.

“I don’t want it to be a one man party. Look, this is not a presidential system. If it was, I might think differently about it. But no, it’s not. We have to be far more broadly based,” he said.

He also accepted there were issues with how the party was perceived by some during the general election.

“We had a problem,” he admitted. “Those that wished us harm use the racist word. And we had candidates who genuinely were.”

Earlier the party leader and Clacton MP gave his keynote speech at the conference, explaining how they intend to win even more seats at the next general election.

He also called out the prime minister for accepting free gifts and mocked the candidates in the Tory leadership race.

But he turned to more serious points, too – promising that Reform UK will “be vetting candidates rigorously at all levels” in future.

Addressing crowds in Birmingham, Mr Farage said the party has not got “time” or “room” for “a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members”.

Farage says Reform UK needs to ‘grow up’

By Darren McCaffrey, political correspondent in Birmingham

Reform and Nigel Farage can hardly believe their success.

Perhaps unsurprising, given they received over four million votes and now have five MPs.

But today this is a party that claims it has bigger ambitions – that it’s fighting for power.

Having taken millions of votes from the Conservatives, the party thinks it can do so with Labour voters too.

Reform finished second in 98 constituencies, 89 of them are Labour seats.

But it is a big ask, not least of all because it is a party still dominated by its controversial leader and primarily by one majority issue – migration.

Nigel Farage says the party needs to grow up and professionalise if it has a chance of further success.

This is undoubtedly true but if Reform is going to carry on celebrating, they know it also has to broaden its policy appeal beyond the overwhelming concern of its members.

“The infant that Reform UK was has been growing up,” he said in his speech and pointed towards the success of the Liberal Democrats at the general election.

He told delegates his party has to “model ourselves on the Liberal Democrats” which secured 72 seats on a smaller popular vote share than Reform UK.

He said: “The Liberal Democrats put literature and leaflets through doors repeatedly in their target areas, and despite the fact they haven’t got any policies at all. In fact, the whole thing’s really rather vacuous, isn’t it? But they manage with a vote much lower than ours to win 72 seats in parliament.”

Reform won more than four million votes in July, and 14% of the vote share – more than the Lib Dems.

Politics

UK will play its ‘full part’ in peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine, says Sir Keir Starmer

Published

3 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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UK will play its 'full part' in peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine, says Sir Keir Starmer

The UK will play its “full part” in peacekeeping in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that the conflict with Russia was not just about “sovereignty in Ukraine” but about the impact it also had on the UK, including the cost of living crisis.

Sir Keir was speaking to Sky News while on a surprise visit to Ukraine on Thursday – his first since his party’s landslide election win six months ago.

The purpose of the trip was to discuss the next steps for Ukraine, with the situation now more uncertain following Donald Trump’s election victory in November.

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Mr Trump, whose inauguration takes place on 20 January, has said he wants a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine within 100 days.

But some European leaders fear pushing Kyiv into a deal could lead to Ukraine ceding some of its territory to Vladimir Putin.

Sir Keir said he did not want “to get ahead of ourselves” but that the UK would play its “full part” in any peace negotiations – including by deploying British troops for peacekeeping.

Asked if he would be prepared to do that, the prime minister replied: “Well, I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I do have indicated that we will play our full part – because this isn’t just about sovereignty in Ukraine.

“It’s about what the impact is back in the United Kingdom and our values, our freedom, our democracy. Because if Russia succeeds in this aggression, it will impact all of us for a very, very long time.”

On arriving in Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Russian drone was shot over the sky over the presidential palace.

Sir Keir said the drone threat was “a reminder of what Ukraine is facing every day” and that the war was brought about by “Russian aggression”.

Elsewhere in the interview, Sir Keir was asked about his views on Ukraine’s longstanding desire to join NATO – something President Putin strongly opposes.

At a NATO summit in Washington last summer, the alliance’s members announced that Ukraine was on an “irreversible” path to NATO membership.

“We fully support Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements and decide its own future, free from outside interference. Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” the declaration said.

However, Mr Zelenskyy has somewhat tempered his language around NATO membership, telling Sky News in an exclusive interview in November that a ceasefire deal could be struck if Ukrainian territory he controlled falls “under the NATO umbrella” – allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.

However, Mr Trump has acknowledged Moscow’s opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, saying: “Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I can understand their feeling about that.”

Watch the full interview with Beth Rigby and Sir Keir Starmer on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge at 7pm.

Politics

Trump’s potential Treasury secretary pick ‘sees no reason’ for US CBDC

Published

4 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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Trump’s potential Treasury secretary pick ‘sees no reason’ for US CBDC

The president-elect cannot officially nominate anyone until after he is inaugurated on Jan. 20, but the US Senate has been holding hearings to question his potential picks.