If conservative Nigel Farage were to form a new political party, it would win the support of over more than a quarter of U.K. voters in the next general election, a new poll on voting intentions revealed.
In a Public First survey, conducted for The Telegraph newspaper, 12 percent of the public would be “very interested” in lending their vote to a new Farage-led party, and 16 percent would be “quite interested.”
Those numbers soar among Conservative voters where it was found that 38 percent would consider switching their allegiance to another Farage project, and 43 percent of “Leave” voters in the 2016 referendum on Britain’s EU membership felt the same.
Such a move would be reminiscent of the electoral success witnessed by Farage-led parties throughout his career. Under his leadership, the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) garnered 3.8 million votes in Britain’s 2015 general election. Despite receiving 12.6 percent of the total votes and coming second in 120 constituencies, the party was punished by the U.K.’s First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system and won just one parliamentary seat.
Farage popped up again in 2019, launching the Brexit Party just months before Britain’s last ever European parliamentary elections and leading the new venture to victory, as it amassed the most seats of any political party in Britain.
In the general election later that year, Farage acted as a kingmaker for Boris Johnson after standing down his party’s candidates in Conservative-held seats. This avoided splitting the conservative vote in key constituencies and enabled the Conservative prime minister to win an electoral landslide.
The Brexit Party rebranded to Reform UK under Farage following Britain’s official withdrawal from the European Union before he resigned and announced his retirement from front-line politics.
Popular reasons for potentially voting for Farage given by respondents to the latest poll reference the need to cut illegal immigration and for someone to offer real change.
Some 62 percent of respondents said they wanted “someone to stand up for ordinary British people.”
Commenting on the survey results, Farage tweeted: “The Conservatives are on the edge of disaster.” He also told The Telegraph he wouldn’t rule out contesting another election, although he warned that Britain’s electoral system for general elections made life incredibly difficult for insurgent parties.
“I managed to win two national elections under proportional representation, but the last time I tried an all-out assault at a general election, I won four million votes and one seat,” Farage told the newspaper.
“So I’m a little soured by that experience. I won’t rule it out of hand, but there’s a lot to think about, given the electoral system,” he added.
