A match made in… well, we’ll let you be the judge of that. Nigel Farage has set tongues wagging this month, after he recently claimed that he would be leading the Tories ‘within three years’, and even joked about taking Rishi Sunak’s job.
In a string of recent public appearances, Mr. Farage has talked-up the notion of being re-admitted to the Conservatives – an organisation which he left some 30 years ago due to the party’s alignment with the EU.
Though he usually hides these claims behind a pretense of a joke, there are signs that Nigel Farage would be welcomed back into the fold. He attended the party’s ill-fated conference just a few weeks ago, and proved to be one of the more popular speakers.
The Brexit figurehead was one of the most influential campaigners in getting the UK to leave the EU back in 2016. However, previous attempts to become an MP have fallen flat – yet it is unlikely that these failures will deter Nigel going forward.
Earlier this week, Farage shared his concerns for the Tories following their by-election defeats.
There’s debate over whether Nigel Farage still has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek regarding these alleged leadership ambitions. But, as a former Labour spokesperson, James Matthewson believes that this whole affair shows just how much politics has changed in the UK.
Appearing on GB News this weekend, Matthewson said it would have been a political coup for LABOUR if they could prove Nigel Farage was jumping into bed with the Tories just a few years ago. Now, he says, it’s a damning indictment of where the governing party finds itself.
“It would have been a huge win for me to connect these two with each other in years gone by. It shows just how far we have plummeted that Nigel Farage is being held-up as a ‘True Conservative’. I know a few Tories who would be gob-smacked by his leadership claims.”
“From my perspective, you don’t win General Elections by being extreme. It’s not in my nature to give the Tories advice, but going to extremes it is absolutely not the way to go, as the Labour Party learned [with Jeremy Corbyn] in recent years.” | James Matthewson