Nigel Farage calls for political revolt as he ‘gingers up’ UK general election by standing as leader of Reform UK party

He caused a political earthquake by demanding Brexit and now, in a shock announcement, Nigel Farage has taken leadership of Reform UK to ‘ginger up’ the UK election.

New Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announces that he will stand during the upcoming general election during a press conference in London.

Nigel Farage has announced he will stand for a parliamentary seat and also take over as leader of the alternative right wing party, Reform UK to “ginger up’’ the upcoming British general election.

Mr Farage said after his shock announcement on Monday: “I see our country going down the drain, I believe in Britain. These boring idiots in the Conservative and Labour parties are not worth the space. Let’s make Britain great again.’’

He called for a British political revolt, alluding to young people turning to conservative parties across Europe which could see big changes in the European parliament after elections this weekend.

Mr Farage, the former head of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) which forced the Conservative Party to hold a referendum on the Brexit question back in 2016, has caused a seismic fault line ahead of the July 4 vote, claiming Reform UK would beat Rishi Sunak’s Tories and become the major opposition party.

He said Reform UK would build momentum and win seats by “getting those people who are saying now they’ll vote Labour, but I suspect in many cases that’s through disgust, to vote for something they really believe in.”

The former Neighbour’s actress Holly Valance was at Mr Farage’s announcement and told GB News: “This is exactly what we all wanted. He gave the people what they asked for. Right move.”

She added: “I think it’s really important to go and listen to everyone and educate yourself on all sides and see who you find that your values and morals are closest to and for me it’s Reform and it has been for a little while. So I’m just gunning for that, I’m a paid-up member”.

Australian model Holly Valance attends the speech by Nigel Farage.

She said she would help the party but noted: “Does anyone want to see me knocking on their doors anymore? Maybe 20 years ago.”

Mr Farage expressed frustration with the Tory leadership and how “nothing in this country works anymore”, requiring a bold move.

He added: “The health service doesn’t work. The roads don’t work. None of our public services are up to scratch. We are in decline. This will only be turned around with boldness. “I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again. I will surprise everybody.”

Mr Farage’s number one policy is unchecked immigration and he has accused both Labour and the Tories of lying about their policies and the numbers of illegal asylum seekers.

He also claimed that the country was seeing the birth of sectarian politics because of “irresponsible immigration” and that the public was fearful of impacts such as recent local election candidates in Leeds, Burnley and Bradford openly shouting “Allahu Akbar’’.

In Leeds, the Green Party winner Mothin Ali later apologised for this remark: “We will not be silenced. We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine. Allahu Akbar.”

The Tories have been left blindsided by Mr Farage’s announcement, and the party’s failure to engage with Reform UK could cost them more votes than it will Labour. At the 2019 election, won emphatically by Boris Johnson, the Tories had negotiated a deal with Reform UK’s predecessor, the Brexit Party.

A staunch ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson, Nadine Dorries, said Mr Farage’s move was a “game changer”.

She wrote on X, “So, to all Conservative MPs who all thought it was a good idea to remove Boris, who were warned but are now heading to the job centre queue – you’re going to have time to reflect on your actions which may have ended the very existence of the Conservative Party.”

.@Nigel_Farage news - a game changer. @BorisJohnson shot Farage’s fox. He never took his eye off the threat from the right. If Johnson were still leader, Farage wouldn’t have stood bcse Reform wouldn’t have had a winnable seat. So, to all Conservative MPs who all thought it…

— Rt Hon Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) June 3, 2024

Labour is so well ahead in the first past the post voting system that polling suggests the leader Keir Starmer will secure a majority of more than 200 seats, and the Tories face an existential threat.

Reform UK, before Mr Farage’s announcement, was on track to “perform strongly” and come second in 27 seats but not win any, according to a survey of nearly 60,000 voters by YouGov.

A You Gov analysis said Labour’s majority could be the biggest in a century: “Keir Starmer could be heading to Downing Street with a historic majority of 194 seats. With a central projection of 422 Labour wins, this result would be beyond landslide territory. “Not only would Starmer’s majority be bigger than the number Tony Blair achieved in 1997 (179), but it would in fact be the second largest majority in British political history after Stanley Baldwin’s figure of 210 in 1924.”

Social media lampooned Mr Farage’s announcement, noting how he had previously stood for election seven times without success. At the 2015 election, standing in South Thanet, he was second to the Conservative candidate, polling 32.4 per cent of the vote.

Comedian Frankie Boyle Updates tweeted: “Farage pops up when the country’s at a low ebb; like a kind of political herpes”.

But Mr Farage, 60, said he was willing “to put my head and shoulders over the parapet and cop the flak” for another five years.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Nigel Farage risks handing Keir Starmer a blank cheque to rejoin the EU, impose the retirement tax on pensioners and hike taxes on hardworking Brits up and down the UK.

“Farage knows that Reform won’t win any seats, but he doesn’t seem to care that a vote for Reform only helps Labour. He’s doing exactly what Keir Starmer wants him to do.

But Mr Farage predicted Reform UK would start drawing from Labour equally as much as the Conservatives and said the Tories had already lost this election without his intervention.