Farage Takeover? Brexit Boss ‘Jokes’ He Expects to Become Conservative Party Leader

Brexit boss Nigel Farage suggested this week supposedly “in jest” a potential takeover of the fledgeling Conservative Party by 2026 amid a failure of Rishi Sunak’s government to deliver on key promises to the public such as reducing migration and keeping taxes low.

Speaking to the Politics Home website this week, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said that he would be “very surprised” if was not installed as the leader of the Conservative Party by 2026.

“I’d be very surprised if I were not Conservative leader by ‘26. Very surprised,” Farage said, adding:  They think I’m joking… I’m serious.”

Although the Brexit boss later clarified that his prediction was made “in jest”, others are not treating the idea as an inconceivable eventuality.

For example, the former right-hand man of Prime Minister David Cameron, George Osborne said earlier this month that while he would be “appalled” by the idea, he said that if the Conservatives were to lose the next general election, Mr Farage could join as a member and then be elected by the party membership as its leader.

Farage allies have also come around to the idea, with Former Brexit Party MEP Martin Daubney saying last weekend of a potential Farage takeover of the party: “The pro-EU establishment, the Remainstream media, the ‘Refugees Welcome’ mob fear this. And for good reason, millions feel Britain needs its Trump. Right now, there’s only one man for the job.”

For now, Mr Farage is likely to bide his time, given that the Conservative Party is on track for an electoral wipeout in the next general election, and therefore it would behove him to wait until the dust has settled and cleared the way for him to potentially come in as its saviour.

Following the Tory Party Conference in Manchester, which he attended for the first time since leaving the party in 1992, Mr Farage shut down speculation of re-joining the Tories any time soon, while throwing his political weight behind the rebranded Brexit Party, now known as Reform UK under the leadership of Richard Tice.

Although Reform is unlikely to gain enough support to become a significant factor in Parliament, their presence in the election will likely strip away more votes from the Conservatives in what is looking to become similar to the 1997 blowout that saw Tony Blair’s Labour Party come to power.

A key difference between now and 1997, however, is the lack of a charismatic leader of the Labour Party, which under Sir Keir Starmer is likely to come to power as a result of voter apathy on the Conservative side rather than genuine enthusiasm for left-wing governance.

Indeed, while Labour touted the two by-election wins this week as a “political earthquake”, both elections saw Labour win with a similar vote share to their previous losses in 2019, being bolstered to victory only by huge declines in Tory voters coming to the polls.

Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns said of the issue: “Voter apathy is evident yet again in both the by-elections low turnout, 20,000 failed to turn out in Tamworth, 24,000 failed to turn out in Mid Beds since the last election. We need to make far-reaching major changes now to instil confidence in the Conservative voters.”

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