Nigel Farage enters election race as he announces he will stand in Clacton for Reform UK
Rishi Sunak faces a fresh electoral threat after Nigel Farage announced he will stand as a Reform UK candidate at the General Election.
Mr Farage announced he will contest Clacton, Essex, after it was also confirmed he will take over as leader of the party.
Speaking at a press conference in London to confirm his U-turn, Mr Farage said: “Difficult though it is, I can’t let down those millions of people, I simply can’t do it, it’d be wrong.
“So I have decided I’ve changed my mind, it’s allowed you know, it’s not always a sign of weakness, it could potentially be a sign of strength.
“So I am going to stand in this election.”
Mr Farage said he will launch his candidacy on Tuesday.
Eighth attempt
His bid to win Clacton will be his eighth attempt to secure a parliamentary seat, with the other seven ending in defeat.
On May 23, Mr Farage said he would focus on getting Donald Trump re-elected as US president rather than stand as a Reform UK candidate in the July 4 contest.
But speaking on Monday, Mr Farage said he would be “back for the next five years” as he sought to put pressure on the Prime Minister.
Revolt
He said he wanted to lead a “political revolt”, adding: “Yes, a revolt. A turning of our backs on the political status quo. It doesn’t work. Nothing in this country works any more.”
Mr Farage predicted the Tories will be in opposition after the General Election.
He said: “They are split down the middle on policy, and frankly, right now they don’t stand for a damn thing.
“So our aim in this election is to get many, many millions of votes. And I’m talking far more votes than Ukip can got back in 2015.”
He continued: “When people start to realise in the red wall, with Reform second to Labour, when they start to realise that actually in those seats, it’s a Conservative vote that’s a vote for Labour, it’s a Conservative vote that is a wasted vote, then I think we might just surprise everybody.”
“We are appealing to Conservative voters, we are appealing to Labour voters.”
The Conservatives held Clacton in 2019 with a majority of 24,702 in an election in which the Brexit Party, led by Mr Farage, stood down candidates to help then Tory leader Boris Johnson.
Clacton was the scene of a Ukip by-election win in 2014, triggered by Douglas Carswell’s defection from the Tories.
Mr Carswell held the seat in 2015 before the Tories regained it in 2017.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “The Conservative Party has already become the mirror image of Nigel Farage’s Reform.
“Rishi Sunak’s constant pandering to Reform has horrified former lifelong Conservative voters in the centre ground.
“Sunak must show some backbone and rule out Farage ever joining the Conservative Party in future, including if he gets elected to be an MP.”
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Farij presumes there are enough racist bigots in Clacton to vote him in, which will be a huge insult to all of the towns’ right headed folk.
I agree with your premiss, but my hunch is that he might just be right in his presumption.
However the result in Clacton will ultimately turn out, my hunch is that he’s chosen to fight one of the constituencies where voters are more than usually likely to be receptive to his message.
It’s ‘Farage’, and it should be ‘town’s right-headed folk’.
“I’ve bounced back Lynne!”
Well…the most boring GE in living memory just got interesting.
So Farage has abandoned Trump, he has a habit of deserting a sinking ship. Now will the media regulator demand he no longer presents show on Gbeebies and other vile sources of lies, because he should to stand in an election. Sadly my experience of that part of England would suggest he does well, given his hateful outlook. So he would then be a twice career politician, arguing against career politicians
That’s one party that need closed lists. They will be happy to have less known about their candidates !
Kippers very sensitive this morning ! Better be prepared for more of this.
I’ve always been a floating voter. I can’t vote for the Tories (obviously). Labour & Plaid are offering much the same liberal lefty muesli but even worse, the Libs Dems (sic) are as nuts as the Greens…and anyway, anyone who thinks humans can change sex is too stupid to be in charge of anything. So for me it was a toss-up between a spoiled ballot and a Reform vote: it ceased to be a toss-up by 4:30pm on the 3rd of June 2024. Reform with Farage in charge is the only hope that this sorry excuse for a country has.… Read more »
This man, who has done so much damage to this country, gets far too much press coverage. No wonder people are voting Reform – they are always in the news!
Just look how many articles there are on him at Narion Cymru.