Nigel Farage and the great Reform Act

One of the few benefits Rishi Sunak was hoping to gain by calling an early general election was blindsiding Nigel Farage and ensuring he wouldn’t run. Reform’s newly-promoted leader has up-ended those plans, announcing he will stand in Clacton, in Essex, and take the lead in outflanking the Tories from the right. Farage, who has taken over from Richard Tice, said the election was “the dullest, most boring election campaign we have ever seen in our lives,” rubbishing Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer. Having initially said he would not stand, the Farage premium – how much he will personally boost Reform’s chances on election day, eroding the Tory vote share in the process – has not been tested for a few months. But is undoubtedly real: in a YouGov poll from late November, Reform took an 11 point vote share with Tice as party leader. With Farage at the helm, it grew to 14.