Nigel Farage fuels speculation with ’emergency’ General Election announcement
Nigel Farage said he intends to make an “emergency” General Election announcement, fuelling speculation he will stand as a Reform UK candidate.
The party’s honorary president, writing on social media site X, formerly Twitter, said: “I will be making an emergency General Election announcement at 4pm today.”
One party official said they were unaware of the detail of the planned announcement but joked they would be “speculating similar” when asked if Mr Farage planned to stand as a candidate.
Rishi Sunak said voters only have him or Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to choose between on July 4, after he was asked if he fears the possibility of Mr Farage standing in the election.
At a campaign event in Oxfordshire, the Prime Minister said: “At the end of the day on July 5, one of two people will be prime minister, either Keir Starmer or me.
“A vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate is just a vote to put Keir Starmer in No 10.
“So if you’re someone who cares about tackling migration, both the boats and legal migration, if you’re someone who wants a more proportionate, pragmatic approach to net zero that saves people money, and if you’re someone who wants lower taxes, it’s only the Conservatives that are going to offer those things.
“And that’s the choice at this election.”
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said she would not serve alongside Mr Farage in the Conservative Party.
Failed
Speaking to LBC radio, she added: “Nigel Farage has stood against many Conservatives, including some of my colleagues, what he wants to do is destroy the Conservative Party.”
Mr Farage has stood – and failed – seven times to gain election as an MP.
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.
Mr Farage said he could not campaign both nationally and for one constituency in the six-week timeframe, and suggested Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had used “first mover advantage” with the announcement.
Mr Farage added he would “do my bit to help” in the party’s UK campaign.
A week later, Mr Farage told GB News he had “huge regrets” about not standing.
UKIP
His most recent attempt to become an MP took place in South Thanet in 2015.
The then Ukip leader finished second behind the Tories, who secured a 2,812 majority.
Mr Farage last week insisted the election is “over” and said Reform wants to win seats to be the “voice of opposition to a Labour government”.
Mr Farage, who also previously led the Brexit Party, has been approached for comment ahead of his press conference.
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May be of some concern in certain parts of England but his party’s only impact in Wales will be to divert Tory numbers in some places. Farage wants centre stage knows he won’t get it so is unlikely to stand unless Trump has told him to “go away”
I am not sure what this”emergency” announcement will be: if it is for him putting his hat in the ring, then my first thoughts were that it could have significance, but on reflection, am not so sure. I think that ‘peak Farage’ occurred in 2016, coinciding with Brexit – that was some time ago, and most of the population now (as I understand it) would like to be back in Europe, so I think that he is on something of a down curve. He can still inspire near-religious devotion among the Mail / Express core, and a chunk of the… Read more »
You forgot Murdoch rag the Sun their readers are all brain dead Tommy Robinson followers
It’s 1445 as I send this ahead of the 1600 Farij announcement about who knows what? I believe he will announce that he’ll stand for election with 4.5 weeks notice when 6 weeks wasn’t enough, Sunak will stand down (subsequently) as PM and MP, Farij will be Tory leader BEFORE the election, Reform will stand aside en masse again, all hell will break loose as the racists will be in wonderland and they’ll still face near wipeout because the UK will have witnessed that the pesky BBC, Fiona Bruce and some goading from the almost equally awful as Farij, Piers… Read more »
Is the BBC going to take Pointless off air to cover this?
They were quick to dump the P.O inquiry when Rishi stood in the rain and wasted a good hour either side of his damp performance.
Why doesn’t this man do as he promised, and use his German passport and leave Britain, as he said he would, should Brexit prove to be a failure. But just like Boris’s promise, to end up dead in a ditch, we can never believe anything he says.
If what bad-enoch said about farij is right, that what “he wants to do is destroy the conservative party.” That would be the one and only policy proposed by farij that I could and would support!