Nigel Farage is still “assessing” whether to make a return to the frontline of politics, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party has said.
In a press conference in Westminster on Wednesday morning, Richard Tice said he hoped Farage would be involved in the general election campaign.
“We have been talking over the Christmas period,” he said. “He is giving a lot of thought to the extent of the role he wants play.”
There had been speculation Farage - having returned from the I’m A Celeb jungle - would be unveiled today as once again having a key role in the party. But he was absent.
Farage founded Reform UK in 2018 as the Brexit Party and currently serves as honorary president.
Tice said of a Farage comeback: “He is still assessing that. As and when we have all collectively come to a decision we look forward letting everybody know.
“A good poker player doesn’t show their hand too early. Nigel is the master of political timing. The more help Nigel is able to give in the election campaign the better.”
Reform UK, which is standing on a platform of freezing “non-essential” immigration, raising the income tax threshold to £20,000 and scrapping net zero targets, is currently hovering at around 10% in the polls.
And a recent YouGov survey for The Times suggested this could jump to 14% if Farage was leader.
The rise in support for the populist party presents a danger for Rishi Sunak, as it could siphon off votes on the right from Tories.
Tice confirmed today it intended to stand candidates in every single seat in England, Scotland and Wales and not do any deals with the Tories.
“The county rightly wants to punish the Tories for breaking Britain,” he said. “To oust them and replace them.”
He also warned of “Starmageddon” if Keir Starmer’s Labour won the election with a mix of “economic incompetence and cultural pillage”.
While Reform UK appears unlikely to gain any MPs, any splitting of the right-wing vote could held Labour through the middle in marginal constituencies.
Lee Anderson, the deputy Tory leader, yesterday said Farage “has” to be Reform UK’s leader if it wants to do well.
He warned the party could then “pick off a lot” of Tory MPs at the next election and help Labour.
Polling guru John Curtice told the BBC that for every 2019 Tory voter who says they will now vote Labour there is another who plans to vote for Reform UK.
“In other words, the Conservatives are losing votes as heavily to Reform as they are to Labour,” he said.