Nigel Farage has accused Rishi Sunak of making a snap phone call General election to stop him and Reform UK attacks Tories for another six months. The honorary chairman of Reform UK also spoke about his own plans for the upcoming election.
Speaking on GB News this evening, Mr Farage claimed that one of the reasons the Prime Minister made this shock decision was to prevent Reform UK from waging another six months of anti-Conservative campaign.
He also claimed the Tories were “scared” by his rumored return to the frontlines of politics, but stopped short of admitting he plans to ditch his newfound TV career to fight the election.
Mr Farage fumed: “I think the timing of this general election has quite a lot to do with me.”
“He was scared. He had heard rumors, true or not, that I was going back to the political frontline and that would have put me in a six-month battle against the worst, most disingenuous Conservative Prime Minister in history, against the most boring house party guest as leader of the Labor Party, I think reform was a very big factor in this decision.
“The problem with reform is not what it stands for. The problem with the reform is a lack of infrastructure on the ground. So what the Prime Minister has chosen is suicide over destruction.
'Of course they are going to lose the elections. They deserve to lose the elections. Personally, I hope they lose the elections.”
Mr Farage promised viewers he would “think about it [returning to frontline politics] overnight,” but added, “There are no obligations for me at this time.”
This afternoon, however, a Conservative spokesperson issued a stark warning that voting for reform would only let Labor in and even pose risks Brexit yourself.
They said, “Sir Keir Starmer knows that the more people vote for reform, the more seats he will win.”
'That would only mean one thing: a Labor majority means higher taxes, uncontrolled immigration and taking us back to the EU.
“Only the Conservatives will do what is right for this country to provide you and your family with a secure future.”
While Rishi Sunak's election gamble caused jitters among Toriesit offers an excellent opportunity to prevent Reform UK from transferring dozens of seats to the Labor Party.
The rebel right-wing party has achieved good results in recent months, at one point coming within three points of the outcome. Conservatives.
However, the local elections proved incredibly disappointing for leader Richard Tice, who won just two council seats and failed to come second in the Blackpool South by-election.
Crucially, despite claiming to now represent the “real opposition” to Labor in parts of England and Wales, Mr Tice's party held just 12% of council seats as it faced both candidate selection and financing problems.
Their election results to date are in stark contrast to those of the party's predecessor, UKIP, which gained 176 councilors and took control of a council in 2015.
Unlike UKIP, the party also lacks crucial grassroots activists and members, which will hamper their upcoming election campaign.
While the exact number of candidates Reform UK will field in the election is unknown, the party has also faced embarrassment over the suspension of numerous potential MPs for offensive comments.
As of April, the party was forced to dump seven candidates after complaints about their output on social media.
The messages included derogatory comments about Muslims and black people, including one claiming that Africans have an IQ “among the lowest in the world”.
Reform was also forced to apologize after dropping a candidate for being “inactive”, only to find out he had died.
The election will also bring their funding problems into sharp focus, following recent revelations that the party has been dependent on their wealthy leader for 80% of their funding since 2021.
Tice has lent his party £1.4 million so far, admitting in May that it will not be easy to run an effective grassroots campaign at the election with the money coming into the party.
Reform UK will hold a press conference tomorrow morning.