Nigel Farage today hailed Clacton-on-Sea as the “most patriotic” part of Britain as he launched his bid to become the seaside town’s new MP.
The Brexit campaigner told a large crowd of local voters that the Conservatives had “betrayed” his trust and warned Rishi Sunak would pay a “heavy price” in the July 4 general election.
Shouts from the crowd included “get ’em, Nige” and “we love you, Nigel”, as large numbers of Mr Farage’s supporters gathered near Clacton pier.
The launch of Mr Farage’s campaign in the Essex seat came after he made a stunning 180-degree turn yesterday on his earlier decision not to stand for Parliament.
The 60-year-old has made a dramatic return to the political frontline and has also been installed as leader of Reform UK in place of Richard Tice.
Farage’s campaign in Clacton – a constituency once held by Ukip when he was party leader – will be his eighth attempt to enter Westminster.
He will have to overturn a Conservative majority of 31,000 at the last election with only minor changes to seat boundaries.
Launching his campaign this afternoon, Mr Farage referenced the city’s past support for the UK when he elected Tory dropout Douglas Carswell as the local MP.
He said: “Without Clacton, Brexit wouldn’t have happened, so thank you Clacton!”
Farage vowed to be a “bloody nuisance” in the House of Commons if elected in a month’s time.
Nigel Farage today hailed Clacton-on-Sea as the “most patriotic” part of Britain as he launched his bid to become the seaside town’s new MP.
The UK’s reformist leader was mobbed by his supporters as large numbers of people gathered near Clacton pier.
Chants from the crowd included “get ’em, Nige” and “we love you, Nigel”, as the veteran eurosceptic launched his latest bid to enter Parliament.
The Brexit campaigner told local voters the Conservatives had “betrayed” his trust and warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he would pay a “heavy price” in the July 4 general election.
The launch of his campaign in the Essex seat came after Farage yesterday made a stunning U-turn on his earlier decision not to stand for Parliament.
The 60-year-old has made a dramatic return to the political frontline and has also been installed as leader of Reform UK in place of Richard Tice (pictured right).
Farage’s campaign in Clacton, a constituency once held by the UK when he was party leader, will be his eighth attempt to enter Westminster.
The UK’s reformist leader will need to overthrow a Conservative majority of 31,000 in Clacton from the last election with only minor changes to seat boundaries.
Speaking at the Clacton rally, Farage said the Conservatives deserved to be punished for their “betrayal” of Brexit.
The UK’s reformist leader said: ‘We made an offer to the British people: we could take back our independence and control of our borders.
‘But what happened? The conservatives have betrayed that trust. They have opened the borders to mass immigration like we have never seen before.
“And they deserve to pay a price for that, a high price for that.”
Farage previously called for the UK to have “zero” net migration and defended controversial comments about Muslims.
The UK’s newly installed reformist leader, who has caused panic among Conservatives with his return to the political frontline, said immigration had “exploded” in recent years.
The Brexit supporter insisted certain sectors of the economy would have to endure shortages in a bid to reduce the number of arrivals into the country.
Farage claimed this would raise wages and “encourage people to learn skills rather than go to university and study social sciences”.
He also risked sparking a new row this morning in a fierce clash with BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Mishal Husain.
Farage doubled down on his view that a growing number of British Muslims “do not subscribe to British values”, which has been branded “ignorant and offensive”.
He also defended claims that there are some streets in Britain where “no one speaks English”.
Questioned about his comments, Mr Farage replied: “I could take you through streets in Oldham right now where no one speaks English.”
But he declined to comment on whether his own children spoke a second language when asked how he knew people in Oldham were not multilingual.
The 60-year-old has vowed to lead a “political revolt” against the Conservatives and Labor after his explosive announcement that he will lead reform for the next five years.
In a round of radio and television interviews this morning, Nigel Farage launched a direct attack on the Conservatives over immigration figures.
The UK’s newly installed reformist leader, who has caused panic among Conservatives with his return to the political frontline, said immigration had “exploded” in recent years.
In a round of interviews today, Farage launched a direct attack on the Conservatives over immigration figures and firmly ruled out a deal with Rishi Sunak’s party.
He told the BBC: “We have been betrayed by a Conservative Party to which I gave considerable help in 2019.
‘They told us we would get control of our borders, they told us immigration numbers would go down, they have skyrocketed.
“I feel betrayed by them, millions of voters feel betrayed by them.”
Farage claimed the Conservatives were “well past their sell-by date, the brand is ruined, they’ve already lost the election.”
And he added: “We cannot continue as we are, we have to limit the number.”
‘Our lives, our quality of life in this country, are being diminished by the population explosion.
“And if that means that in some sectors there will be shortages, what it means then is that wages will go up and we would start encouraging people to learn skills rather than go to university and study social sciences.”
Farage stated that his aim was to achieve “zero net migration”, which would leave “room in the labor market for up to 600,000 people” to come to Britain each year.
The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics suggested that 1.2 million people emigrated to the UK last year and 532,000 people emigrated from there.
This left a net migration figure of 685,000 by 2023.
In a later interview, Farage suggested that his long-term goal was to effectively take over the Conservative Party.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he could not stand or attempt to lead the Conservative Party “as it currently stands”.
But he added: “You can speculate about what will happen in three or four years’ time, all I will tell you is that if the reforms are successful as I think they can, then part of the Conservative Party will join us.” – it’s the other way around.’
He pointed to Canada, where “Reform took reverse control of the Conservative Party, renamed it, and Stephen Harper – who was elected as a Reform MP – became Canadian prime minister for 10 years.”
He said: “I don’t want to join the Conservative Party, I think it would be best to take power.”
Mr Farage used an opinion piece last night to The Telegraph to argue that Britons are “furious” at how both Labor and the Conservatives have tackled immigration.
He added that there is also “deep anger” at the pace at which public services are “disintegrating.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly this morning attempted to downplay the impact of Mr Farage’s decision to stand for election.
“The last time I heard him refer to Clacton, he said he didn’t want to spend every Friday in Clacton,” the cabinet minister told Sky News.
“Reform has always been a vehicle for Nigel Farage’s self-promotion, I think Richard Tice is finding that out rather painfully now.”
