Nigel Farage to replace Richard Tice as Reform UK leader ahead of General Election

Nigel Farage's shock return to frontline politics could make a dire situation for the Tories even worse, ITV News Correspondent Harry Horton reports

Nigel Farage will replace Richard Tice as leader of Reform UK, he has announced.

The former UKIP leader said he will stand as a candidate in Clacton, Essex, on July 4 - despite announcing less than two weeks ago that he wouldn't.

Speaking at a press conference in London confirming his U-turn, Mr Farage said: “Difficult though it is, I can’t let down those millions of people, I simply can’t do it, it’d be wrong.

“So I have decided I’ve changed my mind, it’s allowed you know, it’s not always a sign of weakness, it could potentially be a sign of strength.

“So I am going to stand in this election.”

His bid to win Clacton will be his eighth attempt to secure a parliamentary seat, with the other seven ending in defeat.

Mr Farage said earlier he would be making an "emergency General Election announcement at 4pm", fuelling speculation he would be standing as a Reform UK candidate.

After Mr Tice handed over the party’s reins at a press conference, Mr Farage said they made the emergency announcement "because we think this election needs a bit of gingering up".

"Thus far, it is the dullest, most boring election campaign we have ever seen in our lives," he said.

“And it’s funny because the more the two big party leaders try to be different, the more they actually sound the same.”

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Mr Farage said he would be “back for the next five years” as Reform UK leader, as he sought to put pressure on the Prime Minister.

He said he wanted to lead a “political revolt”, adding: “Yes, a revolt. A turning of our backs on the political status quo. It doesn’t work. Nothing in this country works any more.”

His election announcement comes as a new YouGov poll shows Labour is on course for the biggest election victory in history, beating Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.

The poll, using the MRP (multi-level regression and post-stratification) technique and carried out for Sky News, suggests that Sir Keir Starmer’s party is on course to win 422 seats, with the Tories down to just 140.

It predicts Labour would win a 194-seat majority, the highest number since Stanley Baldwin won a majority of 208 in 1924.

On May 23, Mr Farage vowed his focus would be on getting Donald Trump re-elected as US president instead of putting his efforts into Reform UK as a candidate.

He said it was "not impossible" to still help Mr Trump, who was last week found guilty of 34 counts in his landmark hush money trial, in his election bid.

Asked whether he still plans to support the convicted felon, Mr Farage said: “Conviction or not, I haven’t changed my mind that the world would be a safer place with Donald Trump in the White House.”

He added: “Clearly, if I’m elected the MP for Clacton and I’m there every Friday… it’ll become more difficult, but not impossible.”

Mr Farage had previously said he could not campaign both nationally and for one constituency in the six-week timeframe before the country goes to the polls, and suggested Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had used “first mover advantage” with the announcement.

The former Brexit Party leader said there had been “no attempt at seduction at all” from the Tories when asked if Reform UK had been approached about a potential electoral pact.

The Tories said Mr Farage is “doing exactly what Keir Starmer wants him to do” by entering the General Election fray.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Just yesterday, EU insiders openly voiced their expectation that Starmer would seek a softer Brexit deal, opening the door to rejoining the EU all together. That would mean uncontrolled immigration and betraying the will of the British people.

“Is Farage really willing to risk undoing his life’s work by handing Starmer a blank cheque to rejoin the EU?

Mr Sunak, when asked earlier if he was concerned about Mr Farage standing, insisted a vote for Reform is a vote for Labour.

At a campaign event in Oxfordshire, the prime minister said: “At the end of the day on July 5, one of two people will be prime minister, either Keir Starmer or me.

“A vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate is just a vote to put Keir Starmer in No 10."

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