HE'S RUNNING
Nigel Farage WILL stand in General Election as he becomes shock new leader of Reform & vows ‘I’m here to stay’
Farage said he would return to the frontlines as there was a 'rejection of the political class'
NIGEL Farage WILL stand in the General Election after becoming the shock new leader of Reform UK today.
The Brexiteer pledged to lead a "political revolt" as he made a dramatic return to frontline politics and vowed to "get more votes than the Tories".
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It will be the eighth time Farage, 60, has stood at an election although he has never been successful in becoming an MP.
At a press conference in Central London today, he declared "I'm back" - adding his return is a sign of the "rejection of the political class".
The Brexit frontman previously claimed that he did not have enough time to put together a full campaign in six weeks, after being caught on the hop by Rishi Sunak’s snap election announcement.
The Brexit campaigner will stand in Clacton-on-Sea, in Essex - a seat currently held by the Tories.
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Businessman Richard Tice announced Farage would also be named the new leader of Reform UK, marking his return leading a party for the first time in almost five years.
He said at a campaign event in Central London this afternoon: "I've changed my mind... it's not always a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength.
"I will stand in the Essex seaside town of Clacton. I will launch my campaign at midday tomorrow.
"I've talked to Richard, and he's happy about it.
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"I regret to say we're getting on quite well.
";Richard is happy for me to put my head over the parapet.
Nigel Farage WILL stand in General Election as he becomes shock new leader of Reform & vows ‘I’m here to stay’
"We all know already the Conservative Party will be in opposition, but they won't be the opposition.
"They are split down the middle on policy and frankly they don't stand for a damn thing.
"Our aim in this election is to get millions of votes... many more millions of votes than UKIP did.
"I'm not just back for the General Election, I am back for the next five years.
"We are unashamedly patriotic... We've done it before, we'll do it again. I'll surprise everybody".
He added he would stand up to "the birth of sectarian politics" and lead a "political revolt".
Farage also announced a five-year plan for Reform to become the biggest party in the country by the next election in 2029.
He declared: "I believe we can get more votes than the Conservative Party. They are on the verge of total collapse."
Asked why he'd made such a massive U-turn on standing, Farage said: "I can't let those people down.
"The amount of guilt I felt yesterday, just thinking about it... I promise you, something is happening out there.
"It's better to fight something that is very, very difficult, where the outcome is far from certain than let people down.
"I wanted the UK to be independent... and we achieved it."
He went on: "I've been in this game for 30 years. I've changed my mind and I'm not ashamed of it one little bit."
The announcement came after Farage teased an "emergency" speech today at 4pm this morning.
Farage rebranded The Brexit Party as Reform in January 2021, when it switched from a single-issue pressure group to a right-wing party rivalling the Conservatives.
Now-former Reform leader Richard Tice said: "Sunak thought he'd got one ahead of us.
"I asked Nigel to be the leader of Reform UK, and to my delight, he accepted."
Farage said: “Thus far, it is the dullest, most boring election campaign we have ever seen in our lives.
"And it's funny because the more the two big party leaders try to be different, the more they actually sound the same.”
The campaigner has previously said he "doesn't know" what a good result is for Reform next month and repeatedly refused to name a target number for seats, despite standing over 600 candidates around the UK.
ANALYSIS: This is the Tories' worst-case scenario
By HARRY COLE, Political Editor
WHAT a difference a weekend makes.
It was only last week the now-leader of Reform UK sat in the Never Mind The Ballots studio and said he would sit this one out - he wasn't going to run.
Now he is running, in Clacton, in Essex. The only seat that UKIP, or The Brexit Party, or the Farage-istas ever held.
This will send chills down the spines of Tory strategists.
Their worst-case scenario was Nigel Farage sweeping back in, standing and possibly winning a seat.
Their second worst-case scenario was Nigel Farage sweeping across the country, in an open-top bus, campaigning all over the place.
It sounds like now, he is going to try and do both.
He has declared today that it is his goal to take over and wipe out the Conservative Party, and make Reform the biggest voice on the right.
He says he will win millions of votes - millions more votes than UKIP won in 2015, at the peak of their powers. He wants to go further.
This is an astonishing day in the election campaign - and it was all getting a bit dull.
This is really, really bad news for Rishi Sunak, but really, really good news for Keir Starmer.
But his decision to stand is a big U-turn from his stance when he was quizzed on The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots politics show last week.
Farage told Political Editor Harry Cole: "I had a plan. I was going to launch (my campaign)... I had a venue booked.
"It's very difficult to win without data and it's even harder to win when you're Nigel Farage because the other side will cheat.
"I needed a really good run at this and six weeks wasn't enough.
"I thought, rather than being stuck in a constituency, why not travel round the country and actually, not just support Reform candidates, but actually get a proper debate going."
Trump hijacked the Republican Party - I’d love to do the same to the Conservatives, says Farage
Asked whether he agreed "you've got to be on the pitch to make actual change", Farage insisted: "I've heard that argument for 25 years.
"But I think I've been rather successful, haven't I?"
Critics of Farage had claimed he was dodging standing as an MP to better support pal and ex-President Donald Trump in November's US election.
KICKED IN THE BALLOTS: FARAGE'S ELECTON DEFEATS
By THOMAS GODFREY, News Reporter
NIGEL Farage has had seven previous attempts at winning a seat in the House of Commons but has failed every time.
His first bid came in 1994 while UKIP was a small protest vote party - with the ex-broker losing his deposit after winning a pitiful 1.7% of the vote.
His fortunes continued to improve as the movement to leave the European Union gathered momentum, but even in 2015, a year before Brexit, he failed to beat the Tories to win the South Thanet seat despite turning in his best electoral performance to date.
KICKED IN THE BALLOTS - FARAGE ELECTION DEFEATS
1994 Eastleigh by-election - 952 votes (1.7%) - 4th
1997 General Election (Salisbury) - 3,332 (5.7%) - 4th
2001 General Election (Bexhill and Battle) - 3,474 (7.8%) - 4th
2005 General Election (Thanet South) - 2,079 (5%) - 4th
2006 Bromley by-election - 2,347 (8.1%) - 3rd
2010 General Election (Buckingham) - 8,410 (17.4%) - 3rd
2015 General Election (South Thanet) - 16,026 (32.4%) - 2nd
The Sun can reveal Farage has just one campaign event in America supporting the Republican candidate between now and July 4.
Farage intends to jet in and out of Detroit within hours to come straight back to the UK for campaigning, it is understood.
The campaigner has stood for election as an MP seven times - in five general elections and two by-elections - losing each by significant margins.
ANALYSIS: Like him or loathe him, you cannot ignore Nigel Farage
By JACK ELSOM, Chief Political Correspondent
LIKE him or loathe him - you just can’t ignore Nigel Farage.
For a man who has never won a UK parliamentary election, his impact on British politics over the past decade cannot be understated.
He arguably has the biggest personal claim to the historic 2016 Brexit vote, having bounced David Cameron into calling the referendum to neutralise the UKIP threat.
And his decision to stand down his Brexit Party troops in Tory seats at the last election helped propel Boris Johnson to victory.
Though regularly portrayed by his enemies as a fringe eccentric - or worse - what Farage says and does has serious ramifications.
And so the prospect of him diving headfirst into the general election campaign as Reform leader will have Rishi Sunak in cold sweats.
He is possibly one of the best orators of our political age, and can effectively punch Tory bruises on immigration and taxes.
Yet Farage’s challenge will be to do what outgoing boss Richard Tice struggled to - make the party into a credible election force.
Easier said than done in our brutal first past the post election system, as Farage has previously discovered in his seven failed tilts at office.
UKIP’s performance in its heyday 2015 election? Three million votes - but just one seat.
Can this estranged ex-Tory finally deliver some MPs on election night - or will he only serve to eat into the Conservative vote.
The Farage factor already appeared to be showing results, with Betfair now putting him odds-on to win in Clacton.
And Reform insiders are hopeful that so-far stuttering donations will now come flooding in.
Is he in the business of doing deals with the Tories? Absolutely not. Why? Because he thinks they are finished.
Speaking to the Sun after taking over as leader and declaring himself readers’ best bet on July 4.
With a glass of wine in hand and his trademark cheshire cat grin, he said: “There is no Conservative Party. It doesn’t exist - they’ve lost already.”
He couldn’t care less if his old party goes to hell in a handcart - as long as he’s in the centre of things.
His most recent bid to enter the House of Commons was in 2015 when he stood for UKIP in South Thanet, in Kent, where he lost to the Tories despite scooping 16,000 votes.
Last week Mr Farage even suggested a pact with the Tories, telling our show that Rishi Sunak should “make me an offer”.
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But the suggestion was shot down by party leader Richard Tice, who called Farage's comments "banter".
In 2019 Farage led his Brexit Party - the forebear of Reform - in standing down candidates in 317 seats held by Tory MPs so it did not split the vote and help Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.
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This time Reform has categorically said no deals with the Conservatives will be done.
Mr Farage was a longtime member of the European Parliament representing South-East England for UKIP, and later the Brexit Party.
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MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL
By THOMAS GODFREY, News Reporter
- 1978 - Aged 14, Farage joins the Conservative Party.
- 1992 - Then a commodities broker, Farage quits the Conservatives in protest at the signing of the Maastricht Treaty.
- 1993 - He becomes a founding member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and starts campaigning for Britain to pull out of the EU.
- 1999 - Farage is elected to the European Parliament representing UKIP. Later that year, he marries his second wife Kirsten Mehr.
- 2010 - Farage resigns as UKIP leader to stand in the 2010 general election. On election day, Farage is seriously hurt in a plane crash but survives.
- 2014 - Farage leads UKIP to the largest share of the vote in the European election, forcing pressure on then-PM David Cameron to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
- 2015 - The UKIP leader resigns after failing to win a seat at the General Election, but his attempt to quit is rejected by the party's board, who ask him to stay.
- 2016 - The Brexit campaigner leads the Leave.EU grassroots group and plays a crucial role as his side wins the once-in-a-generation vote by 52 per cent to 48 per cent.
- 2019 - Farage dramatically quits UKIP and launches the Brexit Party. He strikes a deal with Boris Johnson to pull back candidates from Tory-held seats to pave the way to a huge majority.
- 2019 - Farage becomes a close ally of US President Donald Trump and begins appearing at campaign rallies for the Republican.
- 2023 - Now a TV presenter, Farage returns to mainstream TV as part of ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here. He is paid £1.5million to participate and finishes third in the jungle.
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