Report: Farage to Launch ‘Reform Party’ Amid Concern Over Boris’s Leadership

Former UK Indepence Party (UKIP) Leader Nigel Farage (C) stands beside the remains of a sm
NIKLAS HALLEN/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Nigel Farage is reportedly set to relaunch the Brexit Party as the Reform Party, according to British tabloid the Sunday Express, as fears mount over Boris Johnson’s ability to secure a proper Brexit.

The budding party has apparently begun reaching out to disaffected Tory MPs for recruitment, begun talks with a public relations firm, and is preparing to stand at least one candidate in the next by-election.

“Phones have been buzzing, hundreds emails per day from furious Tory voters, donations pouring in, we are praying for a by-election in [a] Tory seat think would win one and gearing up for it, and currently deciding on who would stand,” a Brexit Party insider told the Sunday Express.

The launch of the new-look Brexit Party comes after LBC Radio decided not to renew Mr Farage’s contract, following his remarks comparing Black Lives Matter to the Taliban over their iconoclastic similarities in destroying historical monuments.

“[I am] watching and waiting. The lack of leadership from our government has been pitiful. Millions of Conservative voters want to see some moral courage, not the current cowardice in the face of anarchic Marxism,” Mr Farage said.

Former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib said of the new party: “We never really went away. The problem is that the Conservative Party is not really conservative.”

“People are very worried about what is happening with Brexit. It is good that they will not extend the transition period but nobody can be sure that won’t happen until we have left properly,” Habib warned.

“Meanwhile, we hear the government now saying it wants accelerated talks in June and July. What are they waiting for? How many times does the EU have to tell them Britain needs to sign up to its unfair level playing field rules?” he asked.

“The government needs to walk away on World Trade Organization rules.”

Mr Farage registered the name of the new party in December, warning at the time that he believed by June the country would be plunged “back into crisis” should Johnson pursue a weak withdrawal strategy.

At the time, Mr Farage said that the Reform Party would not just set its sights on securing Brexit, but also look to bring about structural changes to the way politics operates in Britain.

“[The Brexit Party will] have to re-form into the Reform Party; it’ll have to campaign to change politics for good, get rid of the House of Lords, change the voting system,” Farage said in December.

Last week, he accused the government of committing its “first betrayal” of Brexit after reports emerged that the government has scrapped plans to impose full border checks for goods after leaving the EU Customs Union at the end of the Brexit transition period on January 1st, 2021.

Mr Farage, who has been campaigning to leave the European Union for over twenty years, launched the Brexit Party in April of 2019. The party achieved success in its first election, dominating the European Parliament elections in May of last year and winning 29 seats, the most of any party.

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

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