Reform on ‘general election war footing’, Farage says and calls for PM to resign
Nigel Farage said the party will be ready for a general election and said the local elections in May will be ‘crucial’.
Reform UK is now on a “general election war footing”, Nigel Farage has said as he called on the Prime Minister to resign and prepares to unveil his shadow cabinet.
The party leader, speaking in front of a crowd of around 2,000 people at a rally in Birmingham on Monday, said Reform was ready to fight and win the next general election, and said he felt it could come around sooner than expected.
Mr Farage added to the mounting pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to resign over his appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, despite his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He told the crowd at the NEC that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s calls for Sir Keir’s resignation meant it was “virtually impossible” for Labour to fight the Scottish elections.
He said: “If a Prime Minister is to lose his credibility, can’t command the House of Commons, can’t command his own party, doesn’t have respect internationally, it is not in the national interest for him or her to stay.
“I think he should resign, and I think he will before very long. Anas Sarwar is a very big marker. How can Labour now fight the Scottish elections if Starmer stays as Prime Minister? It is virtually impossible and I think the same will come from Wales very shortly.”
Embarking on a half-an-hour long speech after appearing on stage amid fireworks and a standing ovation from the crowd, Mr Farage said criticism that Reform was a “one-man band” was no longer valid as the party welcomed former Conservative politicians like Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick.
He said: “The criticism consistently has been, you’re not ready for the election because you’re a one-man band. Well that is all changing and it has changed rapidly.
“Whilst we have had on the existing team talent, hard work, ability and life experience, what we lacked was experience in Number 10. What we have lacked is experience in government. What we have lacked is long-term experience in parliament.
“Anyone from the outside can see we are now beginning to actually build a team of people.”
The politician said the May 7 elections would be “crucial”, but said he planned to unveil his shadow cabinet this week because the party has “the right people”.
He said: “I’m not going to wait until after May 7 for the next phase because things are moving rather quickly out there.
“I will, within the next few days, start to unveil the first people who will act as our spokesmen and act as our shadow cabinet ministers.
“That is coming in just a few days’ time and will represent more maturity for our party.
“I said here in September I thought the general election would happen in 2027. Of course, I was mocked and ridiculed.
“Well I stand by that but it could come more quickly. This whole thing could just unravel.
“As of 3pm today on our website, I have opened the lists for people to apply to be general election candidates for this party. And I do today put this party on a general election war footing.”
He added: “We will make sure that whenever it comes, we are ready to fight and win the election.
“We are fighting because we believe that we want and need a proud independent country that stands up on its own two feet, that cherishes its past but embraces its future. A place people want to come and live and invest.
“We have been totally failed by the two-party system. We have been totally failed by career politicians.
“I am putting together a team of people who will do much, much better than that. What I love about this party is the optimism, the belief that we can do it. I believe we can do it.”
Asked if Reform was really ready to fight a general election, Mr Farage said: “We have really only been properly in gear for the last 18 months. What we have achieved in that short space of time is truly remarkable.
“I would argue within a month or two months we will genuinely be ready, certainly more ready than all the others. We will be ready.”
All of Reform UK’s MPs joined the party leader on stage at the end of the rally as Mr Farage welcomed those who have joined the team before they launched branded T-shirts into the crowd.
He said: “What you see before you is a growing Parliamentary team, a team that now has more depth and breadth of experience than it had before, and a team that, before long, will be very much bigger.”
