2023-12-09 21:44:27
Published9. December 2023, 22:44
Brexit: Reality TV casts doubt on British politics
The recent participation in a reality TV show by Nigel Farage, classified on the extreme right, would question the current British Prime Minister.
Nigel Farage a participé à «I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here».
AFP
The closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account was the ‘financial affair’ of last week. His success in a reality TV show and an enthusiastic reception at the last conservative congress have revived speculation regarding a return to politics of the British Europhobe and populist Nigel Farage. For several weeks, the 59-year-old former leader of the Reform UK party took part in the show “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here” ), where he reached the final stages of the competition.
“In the jungle, you will discover who I really am”
Nigel Farage, at the start of the game
Viewers were able to see him stick his head into a camper van full of snakes, eat cow anus and goat testicles, and engage in friendly dialogue with other participants. He also participated in the Conservative Party’s annual conference in October, as a commentator on the GB News television channel, fueling speculation regarding a return to the ruling party. He left it 30 years ago to protest once morest its support for the Treaty of Maastricht, founding the European Union.
Get started once more
Nigel Farage, MEP from 1999 to 2020, who had not attended such a congress since the end of the 1980s, was given a standing ovation by activists and filmed dancing with a former minister. For the conservative right, his return might allow the Tories to revive at a time when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s party is largely overtaken by the Labor opposition in the polls, before the next legislative elections.
“Red carpet”
The man the former US president called “Mr Brexit” recently told the Politics Home website that he would be “very surprised” if he was not “leader of the Conservative Party by 2026”. He later claimed the comment was made “in jest,” leaving observers perplexed. For Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a fervent defender of Brexit, the Tories should “roll out the red carpet” for him. And Rishi Sunak seemed to open a door for him by saying that “our party has always been an open church”.
The Prime Minister is struggling to revive the Tories despite his promise to embody change following 13 years of conservative power. According to a recent poll, 11% of voters support Reform UK, the party founded by Nigel Farage in 2018 to defend Brexit. Such a result in the legislative polls, expected by January 2025, might cause the conservatives to lose several key seats.
«Ego»
“Rewelcoming Farage would be a strategic error which would probably push more centrist voters to turn away from the Conservatives in favor of Labor or the Liberal Democrats,” believes Richard Hayton, however. For David Jeffery, a specialist in British politics at the University of Liverpool, leaving doubt regarding his intentions is “a way of returning to the forefront. It’s also a bit of a way to satisfy your ego.”
A possible return to the Tories might, however, displease some of those who hope to succeed Rishi Sunak, in the event of defeat in the legislative elections. David Jeffery believes it is more likely that once out of the jungle, Nigel Farage will return to the helm of Reform UK. “For Reform, having Farage would be fantastic,” he underlines, recalling however that in seven attempts, the Brexiter has never managed to get elected to the British parliament.
(AFP)
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