It's Time For A Nigel Farage Comeback
'The time for a patriotic, truly conservative party is upon us.'
Whenever I want to find out what the electorate is really thinking about politics, I get off Twitter, switch off the MSM - and head out of the London bubble. Such common sense allowed me to predict both Brexit and Trump’s victory in 2016 - making me one of the few journalists to make those calls.
These past few days, with the Conservatives busy committing political suicide, I headed to Nottinghamshire, to test the mood of the Red Wall - where the next General Election will be decided.
These working class Brexiteers are utterly dismayed their votes for Boris have been squandered. The talk is of the cost of living and central heating, illegal immigration, net zero madness, Just Stop Oil protestors blocking Britain, increased taxes… and the threat of a Remainer coup to cancel Brexit.
Dismayed with the Tories, mistrustful of Labour, they want a new way. And the name on their lips? Nigel Farage – aka “The Man”. This cements what my former Brexit Party MEP colleagues tell me, and reflects my own experience recruiting candidates across Britain these past 18 months.
Recent comments from Nigel have got their juices flowing, such as:
“The Mail on Sunday speculating on a comeback for Mrs May. You really couldn't make it up. I got rid of her once and would be very tempted to go for a second time”.
But it’s one thing for the voters to want it, but what about Nigel? He’s sworn his time is up on the front line.
But of all the pearls of wisdom Nigel generously shared with us MEPs in Brussels, the one I remember most is: “Politics is all about timing, dear boy”.
And the time for a patriotic, truly conservative party is upon us. Richard Tice’s Reform has the infrastructure. Farage could pull in the funding, the activists and the votes. Of course, we’ve been here before – and FPTP has proved insurmountable.
But politics is about having the ability to think several chess moves ahead. So when Nigel tweeted on Friday: “A new proportional voting system will kill the Conservatives off and after 12 years of Tory misrule — they deserve it,” we were given a clue.
There’s no coincidence Nigel is pushing for Proportional Representation: the last time he led a party into a PR-style election was in May 2019, and the country turned Brexit Party turquoise from the tip of Cumbria to Land’s End.
Might it be better for Nigel, the grand tactician, to sit out this General Election, watch the Tories face a 1997-style obliteration, allow Labour to introduce PR - and then swoop in with a new party, or as the figurehead of Ticey’s Reform?
In a PR-style election, a Farage-led movement could easily take 20+ seats. Some think it could be 50-60.
But, for now, there is only one man who knows the answer. Domestically, Nigel will be keeping his cards close to his chest. He’d want to work with Trump 2024 if he’s on the ticket.
But if the political planets line up and “The Man” blows the battle horn, an army of Brexiteers will surely dust off their campaign boots - and, this time, truly change politics for good.
Excellent article....fingers crossed that Nigel does make a comeback, and soon.
As Martin infers, a Nigel comeback leading an insurgent centre-right party would only be possible under proportional representation. Would a Labour government really implement this though? Would it be in Labour’s interest if they were in power in a Labour/lib-undem/green/SNP coalition of undesirables?
Let’s hope they will think so and play into Nigel’s hands. Nigel Seems to have the energy and drive to make a comeback and he seems to me to be the only hope we have to overhaul our current failing system. As Martin says, timing is everything.