Nigel Farage closes out the 2024 election campaign with a simple and emotional appeal to family, community, and “a country that we recognise, a country that we know”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who burst back onto the British political scene just four weeks ago to practically steal the scene in this short snap general election campaign, now all but over as polling opens early Thursday morning, finished his campaign tonight in the seat he hopes to take, Clacton.
Appearing from the roof hatch of an ex-British Army ‘Snatch’ armoured car, the Brexit leader hit familiar themes from the many other rallies of the campaign, but at the heart of his speech made an emotional appeal to fundamental aspects of individual and group identity now long unfashionable among the smart set but — he must intuit — still held dear by many. He said:
Everybody talks about who is going to be sitting in Parliament, but for us that is the tip of the iceberg. Our aim and ambition over the next few years is to turn this into a massive grassroots movement of millions of people because we want our country back… and a country that we recognise, a country that we know.
And everything we fight for is based on the principles of family, community, and country. We are unashamedly patriotic, proud to be who we are… it’s only those at the top of this country that lack the pride that we feel in the bosom of our hearts. And yes that’s an emotional thing to say, and what the hell is wrong with that. We love this country, we love our community, we love our families and we will not stand idly by and see these things being ruined.
Farage told his audience of local seat voters that Britain had enough of “being talked down to by the media, by politicians, by schools telling our kids all the wrong things” and said he wanted July 4th to be “the first step of what is going to be a truly historic political change in the direction of our country for the better, for our children, for our grandchildren.”
This bid to win the Clacton seat is Nigel Farage’s eighth attempt to enter Britain’s Parliament. While others have — by his own admission — been protest vehicles and meant for publicity purposes only, he has made frequent reference to his last bid to join Britain’s parliament, which saw a Conservative campaigner convicted for massively breaking election spending rules against Farage’s campaign.
The polling seems positive for Farage this time, but it is no science and fickle with it. Whether Mr Farage will find himself a duly elected Member of Parliament by Friday morning remains very much firmly to be seen, and very likely with every vote to count.
Leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage delivers a speech during a general electiby campaign event by Clactby Pier in Clactby, southeast England by July 3, 2024 in the build-up to the UK general electiby by July 4. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
