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2024-06-18 Britain
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'Mr. Brexit' is back: a right hook awaits British Conservatives
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Vasily Egorov
[REGNUM] British politician Nigel Farage wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on June 3 that he would make an important announcement in a few hours. That same day, the British election campaign took its sharpest turn yet. Mr Brexit has officially announced his big return to British politics. From that moment on, Farage led the Reform Party and at the same time became a candidate for parliament from the Clacton constituency.
Continued from Page 3
So who is Farage, and is he really capable of being the big surprise of this election?
Of course, right-wing politician Nigel Farage began his journey as a young man and teenager as an ordinary member of the Conservative Party. However, during the John Major era (1990–1997), he became very disillusioned with the Tories. He was especially offended that in 1992 the Prime Minister agreed to the signing of the Maastricht Treaty and the gradual transformation of the EU from a purely economic bloc into a new political union.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Farage already in 1993 joined the newly created UKIP - the United Kingdom Independence Party. Next came work as a European deputy, and in 2006 he headed the party.
The first pancake came out lumpy. The party under his leadership performed rather poorly in the elections, and Farage came only third in the constituency (Buckingham). From that moment on, the politician realized that to participate in national politics, good results in the elections to the European Parliament are not enough and that a real structure and grassroots organization must be created.
Perhaps the breakthrough moment was 2013.
UKIP gets its best result in municipal elections, and national ratings have soared. The party becomes like any other right-wing populist Eurosceptic force that was gaining popularity throughout Europe in those years.
The geography of UKIP support at that time is also quite understandable. These are former industrial constituencies that have become disillusioned with Labour's endless rule, as well as the south-east of England, which has historically been considered the most right-wing region of the country (10 years, the same constituencies have been the focus of the Reform Party).
However, unlike most European countries, British Eurosceptics failed to cling to power. This is due to the electoral vicissitudes of Great Britain. The country has a majoritarian system, where parties compete for 650 constituencies. Yes, UKIP worked closely in a number of them, but even 25% of the votes in the constituency was not enough for a candidate to win. It didn’t help that several conservative deputies defected to the party at once.
As a result, the party gained only 13% in the 2015 elections and received only one parliamentary seat. Nigel himself lacked only 3 thousand votes to win. Ahead of the party was a difficult stage of restructuring and, in fact, Farage’s retreat to a secondary role.
But here Prime Minister David Cameron and the Brexit referendum come to the aid of Eurosceptics.
Nigel Farage has made no secret of the fact that leaving the EU is his life’s work. But it was never possible to create a single exit campaign. The iconic Conservatives ( Boris Johnson and Michael Gove ) ran a more traditional "Vote Leave" campaign, while Nigel Farage had to run a more spirited "Grassroots Out" campaign. In fact, both camps complemented each other.
Boris Johnson criticized the Brussels bureaucracy and pressed the fact that London sends too much and receives little. Farage highlighted the topic of migration to the UK. And Farage’s victorious pint on the night of the Brexit victory (the politician exploited the image of an ordinary Briton - a pub visitor - Ed.) has already entered the textbooks.
After such success, Farage turns into an international figure.
He finally parted ways with UKIP and became Trump's main British ally in 2016, often appearing at his campaign rallies.
Farage will make another high-profile return to British politics in 2019. Then the Brexit process finally stalled, and the country stood at a crossroads. Quickly gathering a new Brexit party, he triumphantly wins the last British elections to the European Parliament and finally finishes off Theresa May as the country's leader.
Over the next couple of years, Farage was again out of active British politics. He spends a lot of time in the USA and simply tries to earn money for himself. He even manages to record congratulatory videos for a small fee.
A little later, Farage will become the host of the new right-wing TV channel GB News. The amazing thing is that in the UK there are a huge number of right-wing tabloids, but there were no right-wing channels. On GB News, Farage's program is the highest rated.
Finally Farage is not oblivious to his perception among all British viewers. He even participates in the reality show “I’m a celebrity get me out”, which takes place in Australia. And it almost reaches the finale!
True, one should not think that politics has completely left his life. The Brexit Party has changed its name to the Reform Party. And the new-old party was headed by businessman Richard Tice. At the same time, its structure is more reminiscent of a corporation with shares of control. So, Farage continued to control more than 50% of the party's controlling stake. Thus, all decisions imperceptibly passed through him.
So what prompted Farage to make his big comeback?
Obviously, Farage, as an experienced politician, senses the deep crisis in the Conservative Party. His main task is to completely destroy the ruling party and successfully absorb the debris of the conservatives. After this, create a new right block.
It is clear that in the early weeks of the campaign, Farage's team also took measurements to see how resilient the Reform Party electorate was. Only after it became clear that no one was planning to return to the Conservatives did Farage announce his nomination. The same measurements were carried out in the Clacton district, which Farage chose.
The Reform Party was the last of all parties to present its election program. It was called “Our Contract with You” (the title is a direct reference to the Republican election campaign back in 1994). Among the clauses of this contract there are many interesting ones:
— Changing the electoral system from majoritarian to proportional.
— Additional tax for employers who hire migrants.
— Reduction of corporate tax to 20%.
— All unemployed people must find a job in the first 4 months. Otherwise, they will be denied social support.
— Patriotic school textbooks, where special attention is paid to the British Empire.
— The entire public sector is required to purchase 75% of its food from British suppliers.
— Increase in the army by 30 thousand people.
— Withdrawal from the ECHR.
The Reform Party also became the only real political force where there was no place for Ukraine in the election program. All other parties ritually prescribed “unwavering support” for Kyiv.
The bottom line is we have a good campaign for Nigel Farage. Another thing is that no one seriously assumes that the reform party will be able to win and implement the program this time. Rather, another informational way to loudly remind about yourself
There are still three weeks left before the elections, but the Reform Party is already ahead of the Conservatives in one poll, and in several others it is as close as possible to the ruling party.
Perhaps never before has Farage come so close to becoming the leader of the entire right-wing camp in the UK. All that remains is to finally get elected in the district and knock out political opponents.
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Posted by badanov 2024-06-18 00:00||
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