Latest news with #ex-Tories
The Independent
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Nigel Farage serenaded in the street on campaign visit
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was serenaded by a potential voter as he visited Runcorn to campaign ahead of the by-election. The politician spent about 15 minutes walking along Church Street in the Cheshire town with the party's candidate, Sarah Pochin, on Monday afternoon. Reform UK is hoping for victory in the previously safe Labour seat of Runcorn and Helsby, where a by-election was called after MP Mike Amesbury stood down following his assault conviction for punching a constituent. Mr Farage stopped to shake the hands of passers-by and posed for selfies as he walked along the shopping street. Resident Alan Ayres got out his guitar after speaking to Mr Farage and he and a friend launched into a rendition of The Kinks song Sunny Afternoon as the delighted politician clapped along. The song, which begins with the line 'The tax man's taken all my dough', was released in 1966 and referenced high levels of tax introduced by the Labour government of the time. Mr Ayres told the politician: 'I love what you do, mate, and I love the stuff you say and what you're saying. It's what Britain needs. 'I don't mean to be rude but we don't need Keir Starmer, we don't need that.' As Mr Farage walked along the town's promenade to do media interviews, one passing driver shouted: 'Go on Farage, lad. Send the f****** back.' The former I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant said he did not trust early polling which predicted a win for his party, but told the PA news agency: 'All I can say is it's Labour's 16th safest seat, they're only nine months in to a landslide government, it's a must-win for them. 'We are, by our estimates at the moment, maybe a little bit behind but it really is a little bit. 'It's going to be very very close and, boy, if we win this, this will be one of the most dramatic by-elections of modern political history.' Candidate Ms Pochin was previously a Conservative councillor in Cheshire East. But Mr Farage said there were as many former Labour supporters standing for Reform UK as ex-Tories. He said: 'We've got people from the centre-right and the centre-left that support this party. 'The reason we're doing so well is there are many millions of us who think that economically and societally this country is going downhill and it needs a change of direction.' The by-election is the first Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government has faced since coming to power and will be held on May 1, along with local elections across the country.
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Farage feuds won't faze Reform followers
Your editorial (10 March) makes the same old mistake with the assumption that Nigel Farage is damaging the Reform brand. The party's followers don't care, don't read critical analysis of his behaviour, won't even know about the spat with Rupert Lowe and aren't swayed by unseemly behaviour or arguing in public. It's all perfectly acceptable, even normal, for them. They just need to know someone backs their argument that foreigners are the reason for their woes. Their undying passion for the Farage cause will only get stronger. And it will spread, whether you see the logic or HowarthManchester Nigel Farage can have his fanclub and build a movement to get what he wants (as with Brexit), but not lead a political party. Ukip collapsed as soon as he ditched it. Reform is a dog's breakfast of Brexiters, protest voters, ex-Tories and the far right that threatens to turn on him. Farage's chief appeal to the media has been to drag British politics further to the right and satisfy its obsession with being entertained by political 'characters'. His autocratic approach may yet destroy Reform in an internal feud or swallow up a floundering Tory party, but enormous damage has already been done to the country as a CameronStoke-on-Trent Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reform will snatch away Labour's red wall – and this time, for good
The Tories are dying. Labour is utterly out of touch with the British people. And Nigel Farage and Reform are about to emerge as the big beneficiary of what the Tories completely fumbled: the post-Brexit realignment of our politics. That's what I told more than 1,000 Reform party members at a major rally last weekend in the historic Labour stronghold of County Durham. I'm not yet a member of Reform, but I agreed to speak at Reform events because like millions of other people I am utterly frustrated with the dire state of our once great country. The location of my speech, a traditional Labour heartland, was also highly symbolic. There's certainly no doubt that Reform is benefitting from the ongoing collapse of the Tories. In the polls last week, Kemi Badenoch and her party averaged just 22.8 per cent. That not only puts the Tories behind Nigel Farage and Reform, who for the first time last week finished ahead of the Conservatives in every major poll, but also puts Badenoch on less than what they polled at the election last year. With Kemi Badenoch's approval ratings now also sliding – to minus 15 with one pollster, or what I call Prince Harry territory – there is simply zero evidence that the party is managing to get itself off life support. As pollster James Frayne pointed out a few days ago, we might well be witnessing 'the last days' of the Conservative Party, a party which he says has become an 'irrelevance' in the eyes of many voters. Look closely at the polls and you'll see that the party is now also drawing just as many disillusioned Labour voters and Liberal Democrats as former Conservative voters. And this is an absolutely critical point. Why? Because a Tory tribute act that depends only on ex-Tories will simply never be able to overcome our first-past-the-post, two-party system, which is a nightmare for disruptors. Only a political alternative that's poaching votes from left, right, and the 'none of the above' masses would be able to develop the escape velocity needed to exit the system. As Reform insiders know, while they have ample space on the right, they are now also opening up a second major flank across historic Labour heartlands, like County Durham. In fact, if you look at the 100 most favourable seats for Reform at the next general election in 2029, seats that are 'demographically favourable' in terms of potential success for party candidates, then no less than two-thirds of them are held by Labour. Of Reform's top 50 prospects in 2029, 33 of them currently have Labour MPs. The emerging front lines in this new revolt on the right, in other words, will not just be in the few traditional Tory areas that remain in play, but also big clusters of Labour seats scattered across the North East, Yorkshire, the North West, and Wales. If this revolt continues to gather pace then it will be in seats like Ed Miliband's Doncaster North, Jon Trickett's Normanton and Hemsworth, Yvette Cooper's Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, Dan Jarvis' Barnsley North, and Chris Bryant's Rhondda and Ogmore that will provide one 'Portillo Moment' after another at the next election. Nigel Farage and Reform, in other words, are now quickly becoming the big beneficiary of the post-Brexit realignment, poised to inherit many areas that will never vote Tory again after their post-2019 betrayal. And you know what? The Tories have only themselves to blame. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
