Would you REALLY need Nigel Farage as PM? 5 warning indicators about Reform chief

Nine-job Reform boss Nigel Farage is being talked up as the next Prime Minister.

The populist right-winger only became an MP in July, but his party are on the march. Latest YouGov polling suggest it is almost neck-and-neck with Labour after leapfrogging the Tories.

But Mr Farage faces a barrage of criticism over his record since arriving in Parliament. He has jetted off to the US to show his support for Donald Trump – as well as earning more than £570,000 on top of his MP salary.

On one occassion he missed a vote on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in order to host a show on GB News. The channel has paid him almost £220,000 since July.

Farage and his nine jobs

The Reform leader has banked a massive £571,585 in outside earnings since he became an MP. As The Mirror pointed out at the weekend, his typical constituent in Clacton would have to work full-time for 19 years straight to earn the same princely sum.

Farage trousers the most cash – nearly £8,000 an hour – flogging gold as a “tax-free” investment online. He makes the least – ironically – representing the people of Clacton in Westminster for as little as £28 an hour. Farage is comfortably out-earning the previous record holder for earning the most cash from outside jobs, the wealthy Tory MP and former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.

The Government is currently looking into ways of cracking down on Parliamentarians dedicating too much time to second jobs. At a committee hearing on Tuesday minister Lucy Powell did not mention him by name, but did voice concern about MPs working as regular TV hosts.

Ms Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, said: “I think the issue that is of potential reputational concern for the House as a whole is where there are paid ongoing employment contracts with media organisations – and other organisations – where they could give rise to a percieved conflict of interest or whether they could give rise to this perception that someone is monetising their position as a Member of Parlament.”

Plans would lead to massive cuts

Based on Reform UK’s ‘manifesto’ in the summer, there are questions about promises the party makes. Farage was warned his sums don’t add up as he unveiled plans for a £140billion tax-slashing splurge which paves the way for swingeing cuts to public services.

The plans included bumper giveaways, including plans to raise the income tax threshold from £12,571 to £20,000, while raising the higher rate threshold from £50,000 to £70,000. Stamp duty would be scrapped on properties worth less than £750,000 and inheritance tax would be axed on estates worth less than £2million.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said Reform’s plans are based on “extremely optimist assumptions” about growth and the sums “do not add up”. Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the IFS, said Reform’s plans to save cash would “would almost certainly require substantial cuts to the quantity or quality of public services”.

Grovelling to Elon Musk

Farage’s relationship with Elon Musk and refusal to condemn his vile attack on Jess Phillips has been a low point.

Even as the tech billionaire launched a string of misleading attacks on the Government, including branding Ms Phillips a “witch”, Farage did not tell his pal he’d crossed a line. It was a surprise then when Musk unexpectedly rounded on the Reform leader and appeared to suggest former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe should replace him.

But Farage says he hopes he can “mend” his relationship with the Twitter/X owner – and will jet off to Trump’s inauguration next month hoping to get back into his favour.

The Reform leader said: “I am confident that whatever has been said we can mend, you can build bridges.” Mr Farage told LBC he would be attending Trump’s inauguration later this month for “four or five days”. He said: “I have no desire to go to war with Elon Musk, and I’m not going to. And I haven’t done.

“I’m a huge admirer of him. I think he’s a heroic figure. I think the sort of tech changes that he’s bringing to the world are incredible.”

Questions over alleged fundraising

Farage has been reported to Parliament authorities for allegedly promoting a drive for cash donations in the Commons.

The Reform UK leader was accused of a potential breach of the MPs’ code of conduct, after he made comments about fundraising for the party – of which he is the largest shareholder. Daisy Cooper, the Deputy Lib Dem wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, taking issue with Mr Farage apparently promoting plans to raise funds to pay for their own so-called “independent inquiry” into grooming gangs.

“If the Government will not hold it,” Mr Farage said in the Commons, “we will raise the money at Reform UK and appoint independent arbiters, because we need the truth to be out there.”

Ms Cooper argued this amounted to “promoting” a “fundraising appeal for his party’s coffers.”

Swerving questions about MP’s conviction

Farage lost his temper during a grilling about one of his MPs serving time in prison. The Reform UK leader said James McMurdock’s conviction for repeatedly kicking his former girlfriend was “irrelevant” and branded him a “fine young man”. Mr Farage repeatedly tried to dodge questions and instead whined about the “mainstream media”.

Last month court documents emerged showing Mr McMurdock was sent to a young offenders’ institution for “kicking to victim on around four times”. He previously claimed he was jailed for “pushing” the victim after a night out in 2006.

When he was quizzed about the discrepancy by Sky News’ Beth Rigby, he bellowed: “It’s a spent conviction, end of conversation.” He claimed not to have read the court documents.

Pressed further by Ms Rigby he said: “We’re busy. We’re building a new political party. You are talking about a spent conviction from 20 years ago. What’s happened has happened.

“Whether there are discrepancies or not, I don’t know. What I know is he’s a fine young man who’s turned out really very, very well.”

Mr Farage faces questions about what he knew about Mr McMurdock’s past. When asked about the impact on the victim to see the MP’s differing account, the furious Reform leader said: “I’ll believe anything you say.” When Ms Rigby pointed out that it was what the court documents said, he vented: “This is why the mainstream media, like you, are losing the affections of the British public. Let’s worry about where we are today….”