Could Nigel Farage really be headed for No.10? As Reform UK surges and many see the party as the main opposition over the Tories, we asked if you thought the right-winger could be our next Prime Minister
With Nigel Farage suddenly being talked about as a real contender for Prime Minister, we wanted to know if you thought he had it in him to lead the country.
After Reform UK won major ground in the local elections, it appears more and more Brits are eyeing Farage as a potential PM. An ipsos poll found many (37 per cent) now see Reform as the main opposition over the Tories (33 per cent). However, a recent YouGov poll still showed the staunch right-winger trailing behind Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, and Sir Ed Davey when voters were asked who they’d want in No.10.
Speaking after Reform’s local election gains in May, Farage boasted the results showed the ‘beginning of the end of the Conservative Party’. But could he now leapfrog Labour too and wind up in No.10? We asked Do you think Nigel Farage could be Prime Minister? A whopping 7,527 of you thought he could, while 4,948 didn’t think so.
Many of you commented on our original story, and we’ve rounded up what some of you had to say. 331 posted: “I’m an OAP and I think that it’s time for a change. I read that Farage is doing well in local by-elections, and that he’s going to help pensioners. That’s not the main reason why I’m going to vote for him. It’s time that this country has a change from Labour and the Conservatives. If he keeps to his promises and helps pensioners then it’s a bonus.”
Marod: “We need a party to do the things that Labour will but without the politically correct silliness. Reform doesn’t seem that party, they have kept their plans for the NHS close to their chest and ambiguous – that is a red flag. Starmer should now prove to the country that they made the right choice otherwise the alternatives are going to be pretty bad.”
55yearsared: “Reform government? Maybe a possibility, however not with flip-flop Farage as PM, he is the biggest obstacle to anyone taking them seriously, how can you have a leader who jumps from topic to the next with no substance and no answers? Reform would bankrupt this country in next to no time.”
Christopher1959: “No, I do not think that Farage will ever be PM, he’s just an opportunist who looks after number 1, that’s himself. Reform UK have only one policy, and that is that they are staunchly anti-immigration. I could not trust Farage to run the economy.”
Dhanson40: “As I see it, Farage is a part-time MP and was also accused of missing many of the European Sittings, whilst serving as an MEP as well. He jumps about from one eye-catching gimmick to the next. I – for the life in me – cannot take him seriously, and wonder just when this country will see through him.”
Jane59: “Yes – at least [Farage] will sign a contract with the people. His policies are harsh for the well off and we need rich and poor. At the moment that’s the best MP.”
Many are unsure of Farage’s ability to lead the country, with economists saying Reform’s plans would blow a hole in the public finances, which included a promise to raise the tax free personal allowance to £20,000, costing up to £80billion alone.
Tirade against Farage
In a fiery speech last week, Keir Starmer tore into Farage, branding him “Liz Truss 2.0” and accusing him of cooking up a “mad experiment” that could wreck the economy and hammer family budgets. Attacking Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s pledges, Keir Starmer said: “He set out economic plans that contained billion upon billions of pounds of completely unfunded spending, precisely the sort of irresponsible splurge that sent your mortgage costs, your bills and the cost of living through the roof. It’s Liz Truss all over again.”
The Prime Minister went on to swipe at the Reform UK leader’s decision to jet off to Las Vegas today to appear at a Bitcoin conference. He said: “Apparently [Mr Farage] is in Las Vegas today at a casino, and it’s not a surprise, because he said that the Liz Truss budget in his view was the best since 1986. That shows his judgment. It shows what he’d do and the result would be exactly the same. I’m not prepared to let that happen.
“What Nigel Farage is doing is Liz Truss 2.0, same promises of billions and billions of pounds in unfunded cuts with exactly the same results. I feel very strongly it’s my responsibility to protect working people from being put through that ever again.”
It comes as the Reform UK leader was labelled a “political fraud” by the TUC after announcing headline-grabbing welfare and tax policies funded through controversial cuts to climate change strategies and diversity programmes. However, Mr Farage claimed Reform UK’s weakness was that it has never been in government and that newly-elected council leaders now needed to show the party is capable of governing.
What do you think? Could Nigel Farage be Prime Minister? Share your feelings in the comments below.