Pro-Brexit broadcaster and populist politician Nigel Farage said on Thursday he would not run for a seat in the British parliament. general election on July 4, preferring to focus on helping former President Donald J. Trump take back the White House in November.
Mr Farage’s announcement is likely to bring some relief to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Party, as Mr Farage’s current party, Reform UK, is seen as the A major threat to the Conservative Party But Mr Farage said he would do “whatever I can” to help the Reform Party, which plans to field a slate of candidates at the election campaigning on an anti-immigration message.
“As important as the election is,” Mr Farage posted on social media“The November 5th game in the United States is of huge global significance. A strong United States as a close ally is vital to our peace and security. I intend to do whatever I can to help the grassroots movement in the United States.”
Farage, 60, hosts a show on the right-wing British TV station GB News. He campaigned for Trump in 2020 and interviewed Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach in March. Trump has hinted that British government appoints Mr Farage as ambassador to Washington.
But Mr Farage has a spotty electoral record: he has run for parliament seven times but never won a seat, although he was elected to the European Parliament. He has also been in the spotlight in other ways, including a high-profile claim that his exclusive private bank, Coutts, No longer his customer Because his political views are polarizing.
Farage’s decision not to run is not surprising given his lucrative broadcasting career. Reform Party leader Richard Theis tried to maintain optimism for the announcement, insisting Farage would run and the party planned to field candidates in 630 seats in England and Scotland.
Tees said he would run for the seat of Boston and Skegness, a constituency more than 100 miles north of London that voted strongly in favor of Brexit in the 2016 vote.
Sunak called a snap election on Wednesday, months earlier than expected, to take advantage of some light Good news for the UK economyBut the reform’s focus on immigration could expose the weaknesses of a Conservative government that has failed to fulfill Sunak’s pledge to stop large numbers of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats.
