On Monday 3 June 2024, right-wing politician Nigel Farage announced that he will be standing as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Reform UK in the UK’s general election.
Farage has taken over as leader of Reform UK and is running for MP in Clacton, despite having previously stated that he would not be standing in this year’s election on the 4 July.
Farage said that his election U-turn is due to not wanting to let his supporters down after spending time on the campaign trail.
Previously the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Brexit Party, Farage is now running in Clacton where over 70% of voters in the constituency voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum. The consistency was previously held by UKIP in 2014 and 2015.
Since the 2017 general election, Conservative MP Giles Watling has held the seat and is standing for re-election in 2024.
Farage has unsuccessfully stood to be an MP seven times, most recently in 2015.
Farage’s move poses a potential challenge to the Conservative Party; as he has ruled out any future cooperation between Reform UK and the Conservatives.
In the 2019 general election, UKIP stood aside from over 300 seats previously held by the Conservatives after concerns about dividing the electorate. Now, Reform UK is contesting 630 seats across England, Scotland, and Wales.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on 4 June 2024 Farage outlined what Reform UK are promoting in their election campaign.
The party has announced it will aim to freeze non-essential migration, with Farage telling Radio 4 that “net migration at zero would be the target”.
The UK general election is due to be held on the 4 July.
“Nigel Farage” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.