RISHI SUNAK is right. Every vote for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party is a vote for Keir Starmer and a death sentence for the Tories in 2024.
Which is precisely why he will run.
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Forget about Nige being too old, too tired, too comfy as a GB News star turn — or too battered by his near-fatal plane crash.
This is the moment the ex-Ukip leader believes he was born for.
Having blasted a Brexit-sized hole in the European Union, he now aims to shake the foundations of British politics.
And he might not be alone.
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“I’d be very surprised if I were not Conservative leader by ’26. Very surprised,” said Farage before diving into the Celeb jungle for a pint of puréed crocodile feet and a purse of £1.5million.
He claims he was joking, but bookies still slashed his odds from 40/1 to 20/1.
So far — apart from some barefaced cheek in the shower last week — the ex-Ukip leader has been coy.
Allies even suggest his fighting days are over.
Poppycock! Flamboyant Farage has just been biding his time.
He won’t sit idle as failed regimes across Europe are toppled by populist insurgents.
This is his special project.
“Bad Boy” Geert Wilders’ sensational victory in last week’s Dutch elections is merely the latest tremor in a political earthquake.
The Old Order is being dumped in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Sweden, and under threat in France and Germany.
Now, despite Brexit promises to take back control, shocked voters have discovered that 1.5million people — equal to the population of Birmingham — have flocked to Britain in the past two years.
Big beast
Our population is now predicted to hit 80million in 25 years. This is all the excuse Farage needs to hit the campaign trail.
But what if he’s not alone? Suppose another big beast is sniffing around the issue of mass immigration.
News that 1.5million migrants arrived legally in two years has eclipsed Jeremy Hunt’s tax-cutting budget and leapt to the top of the political agenda.
Boris Johnson, who did sweet Fanny Adams about immigration as PM, devoted his Saturday newspaper column to a possible solution — a minimum salary of £40,000 a year for each entry visa granted.
BoJo also popped up today at the London march against anti-Semitism, a vanishingly rare personal appearance at a rally, especially in such bitterly cold weather.
So what is he up to?
Those with long memories may recall a moment last summer when Boris himself was being courted as a potential Reform Party leader.
Describing this as “fantasy politics”, I suggested Boris’s days as a party leader were over — unless . . .
“Unless there is an oven-ready political machine waiting for a charismatic right-of-centre leader,” I said.
“Reform, formerly known as Ukip, stands ready to welcome him in an instant.”
I added: “An offer is all but in the post. Farage himself rates Boris highly for delivering Brexit’s 17.4million voters — more than half the UK electorate in 2016.”
At the time, private polls suggested 4million voters were ready to back Reform whenever the next election is called.
The number would double if Farage returned — and double again with Boris.
Today, as in June, this may still be fantasy politics. But if nothing else, these guys are unpredictable — and ambitious.
Both are seeking vindication.
Farage feels robbed of the respect he deserves for delivering Brexit and restoring British sovereignty over its borders.
Confusion and chaos
It was under his leadership that Ukip won the 2014 EU elections, forcing David Cameron to deliver a referendum.
And it was his decision to step aside that handed Boris his stunning 80-seat majority in 2019.
For Boris, it would be simple revenge against those ungrateful Tories who plotted to oust him the moment he won that landslide.
As I wrote back then, there is no room here for two giant egos.
Building a minority party like Reform into a vehicle for government requires commitment, self-discipline, long-term planning, a taste for detail and single-minded determination.
Doesn’t sound like BoJo’s cup of tea.
But after the calamities, confusion and chaos of the past four years, rule absolutely nothing out.
