Reform honorary president Nigel Farage has said he will be making an “Emergency General Election announcement” at 4pm today.
At the beginning of the campaign, the 60-year-old said he would not be standing for the party at the forthcoming election, though he has been heavily involved in Reform’s campaign so far. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter) this morning: “I will be making an Emergency General Election announcement at 4pm today”.
No further details have been given about the nature of his announcement.
During an appearance on BBC Question time last week, Nigel was asked by a woman in the crowd whether he had avoided standing because of previous failed attempts to become an MP.
She asked: “Is the reason that you’re not standing because the last seven attempts that you did try to stand, you didn’t get elected? I’m sure that’s not the case but I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
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PA)
Mr Farage attempted to explain himself but Piers Morgan, who was sitting alongside him on the TV panel, interjected: “Yes, he did. He bottled it.” A row then broke out between the two, as Mr Farage hit back: “Piers, you’ve never had the bottle to stand ever in your career.” Piers replied: “I’m not a politician.”
Mr Farage had his first unsuccessful attempt to become an MP at the Eastleigh by-election in 1994. His last bid to become an MP ended in failure in 2015 when, as Ukip leader, he lost by 2,812 votes in South Thanet. After leaving Ukip, Mr Farage made a return to politics in 2019 during Theresa May’s failed attempts at a Brexit deal.
The Brexit Party was the largest party at that year’s European elections when it got 29 MEPs elected, before it was later rebranded as Reform UK. He is now the party’s honorary president, with businessman Richard Tice the current leader.