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- Farage’s surprise announcement – ۵ things it could be
- Farage says he will resign to fight ‘people versus establishment’ byelection in Clacton
- Farage claims Labour’s restrictions on donations are what you would get ‘in communist country’
- Farage accuses the Times of threatening his daughter’s security, and says he ‘never been angrier in my life’
- Farage claims police ignore death threats he faces
- Farage says he is facing new investigation as result of Sunday Times report about George Cottrell donations
- Farage describes £۵m from Harborne as equivalent to a ‘lottery win’
- Farage claims he has done nothing wrong
- Farage says establishment trying to beat him ‘by foul means’ because they cannot do it fairly
Farage’s surprise announcement – ۵ things it could be
What will Nigel Farage say at ۲pm? (See ۱۲.۱۰pm.) This is not one of those occasions where the media has been tipped off in advance about an announcement that is subject to an embargo. (At least, we at the Guardian have not been tipped off. Perhaps at GB News, where Farage is a presenter, they have a better idea.)
But we can speculate about the options. Here are some things he could be announcing – ranked in order of probability, with the most likely at the top.
۱) A temporary break from politics – linked to a health issue
There have been persistent rumours that Farage’s health is not as good as people might think. “He is not particularly well,” the leading political commentator Sam Freedman said of the Reform UK leader in a post on his Comment is Freed Substack blog a few days ago. In ۲۰۱۰ Farage was involved in a serious plane crash, and it is thought he still has some ongoing health issues relating to that. If there is an underlying health issue, Farage could decide to talk about it, and link that to a decision to take a break from leading his party for a few months. He might find some people are sympathetic.
۲) A temporary break from politics – ascribed to exhaustion
Since the May elections, Farage has had a lower public profile. As Rowena Mason, Ben Quinn and Peter Walker wrote in a long read at the weekend, colleagues say he is tired.
But tiredness is not the only problem he is facing. His party seems to have hit a ceiling in terms of support, and its vote share has been going down. Anti-Reform tactical voting has become the most potent factor in byelections in England and Wales. There are splits in the party between hardliners like Zia Yusuf, and those like Robert Jenrick who want to make the party amenable to former Tories. Maybe Farage is just fed up and needs a break.
۳) Standing aside for a caretaker leader
Farage could combine a version of ۱) or ۲) with an announcement that he is going to let Richard Tice take over as temporary leader for a few months. Tice has led the party before. But Reform UK is holding its annual conference in early September. While it seems quite probable that Farage may announce that he is off for a couple of months over the summer, it seems less likely that he would want to be away for a prolonged period that would involve missing the party conference.
۴) Stepping down as leader for good
This is possible, of course – but it is not what anyone in the Westminster lobby is expecting.
(Even if Farage did resign, we would not know whether to view it as permanent. As Ukip leader, he resigned three times as leader, only to come back again each time. And, after setting up the Brexit party, which became Reform UK, Farage resigned to let Tice take over – before returning as leader at the ۲۰۲۴ election.)
۵) A defiant attack on the media
The announcement could just be Farage saying he won’t be forced out. The message on X could be a tease. Again, this seems unlikely, but you never know.
Key events
Farage says he will resign to fight ‘people versus establishment’ byelection in Clacton
Farage says he is going to fight a byelection in Claction.
It will be a “people versus the establishment” byelection, he says.
Farage claims one of the recent stories about him was the result of an illegal hack.
He says immigration remains a problem.
In London men are afraid to wear watches, and women do not wear their jewellery.
Farage claims Labour’s restrictions on donations are what you would get ‘in communist country’
Farage accuses Labour of changing rules to benefit them electorally.
And now Labour is “coming for our money”, he says.
He is referring to the restrictions on donations from people living abroad.
Labour “keep changing the rules again and again just to stop Reform”.
It is “like living in a communist country”.
Farage accuses the Times of threatening his daughter’s security, and says he ‘never been angrier in my life’
Farage says commentators say he is angry.
He says last week the Times published a picture of where his daughter lives.
He claims that, by doing that, the editor of the Times (Tony Gallagher) has directly threatened her security.
He says his daughter is now facing harassment from the media.
He says he will not tolerate his family facing treatment like that.
Am I angry? I’ve never been angrier in my life.
Farage says he got security funding when he became an MP.
But ۷۰% of that was later withdrawn, he says.
He says he is grateful to Christopher Harborne because that will fund his security.
Farage claims police ignore death threats he faces
Farage says he is the most attacked politician in Britain.
He recalls a mob surrounding him during a visit to a pub.
There are daily calls for him to be murdered, he says.
He claims the police ignore these threats.
Farage says he is facing new investigation as result of Sunday Times report about George Cottrell donations
Farage says is now facing another standards investigation as a result of the Sunday Times report.
And he attacks Gabriel Pogrund, the editor of the Sunday Times Insight team behind that report.
Farage say he is proud of the fact he has made money.
Labour ministers don’t have experience of making money, he says.
Farage describes £۵m from Harborne as equivalent to a ‘lottery win’
Farage says, after the Brexit referendum, he had little money.
Since then, he has done well, he says.
And he had the equivalent of “a lottery win”.
He is referrinng to the £۵m from Christopher Harborne.
Farage claims he has done nothing wrong
Farage says he has done nothing wrong.
He says the code of conduct only regulates what people do in their public life.
It does not cover what they do in their private life.
He says there is nothing wrong with making money.
He gave up a lot of money when he devoted his life to politics. He wanted the UK to control its own borders. He says the UK has not gained the full benefits of that. But he thinks it will.
Farage says establishment trying to beat him ‘by foul means’ because they cannot do it fairly
Nigel Farage starts by talking about how well Reform UK did in recent elections.
But the establishment has decided it cannoot beat him fairly, he says.
So it is doing it “by foul means”.
Nigel Farage is making his statement now.
My colleague Pippa Crerar says it is not just the leftwing media that is having a go at Nigel Farage over his finances; even the Telegraph is doing it.
Nigel Farage says his statement is coming soon here.
Robert Shrimsley, the FT’s chief political commentator, also thinks a byelection is likely.
If I were Farage – I’d force the by-election, try to take back control of the story and make it about efforts to hound him out. And he could use a by-election win. But then again if I were Farage I’d have taken the £۵m and retired
