Nigel Farage is running for president: Why might this move upset British politics?

From our correspondent
London – Earthquakes in British politics: Nigel FarageMr. Brexit announced his decision To run for political elections scheduled for July 4, Thus putting an end to weeks of speculation. It is a move that could change the current race and perhaps reshape all scenarios in London for years to come. “I took the dog for a walk yesterday, went fishing, then went to the pub and had a chance to think,” Farage explained, adding that several people, he said, had stopped him in the street in recent days and asked him why. He did not run and so concluded that he did not feel like “giving up on millions of people.”

Meanwhile, Farage He regained leadership Reform PartyThe Brexit party he founded and of which he has so far been only honorary chairman: Reform was already above 10% in the polls, third behind Labor and the Conservatives, but now with Farage down the road it will end up doubling. Consensus. Ironically, this is good news for Labour, because reform will steal consensus on the right from the Conservatives, who now risk catastrophic defeat. Farage does not believe he can change the outcome of the election: “Labour has already won,” he admitted. Rather, it aims to change the balance on the right. We are witnessing “the most boring election campaign ever”, Farage declared, with Labor and the Conservatives “now one and the same”: neither major party, he said, has been able to stop mass immigration, tax cuts and beyond. All to reverse what he called the “decline” of Great Britain.

This is not to say that Farage’s task is easy: given Britain’s single-member electoral system, he has failed in the past seven times in his attempts to win the Westminster election. But this time it could be different, because… The rejection of the traditional political class that he denounced in his speech is real: And therefore Reform Party He may succeed in electing a handful of MPs, including Farage. But in fact his ambitions go much further: although he is outside Parliament, He was indeed one of the most influential leaders of recent decades, After being able to impose the issue of leaving the European Union on the national political agenda. Now he can remake the British right in his image: after inevitable defeat, the remaining remnants of the Conservative Party will become a territory for invasion, and it is not unlikely that Farage will be able to launch an election campaign. He takes over Similar to what Donald Trump did in America with the Republicans. There are many conservatives who believe the party should move strongly to the right, And perhaps even recall Boris Johnson to office: At their last convention, Farage, who appeared as a surprise guest, was welcomed as a star.

The irony is that In London, they always boasted that there was no right-wing populist party in ParliamentContrary to what is happening in all continental European countries: now this scenario may come to life from the ashes of a “fragmented” conservative party. This will be the biggest reorganization of British politics in more than a century, when Labor replaced the Liberals: The beginning of a new era.