OPINION:
As in the United States, the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom isn’t all that conservative. British Tories hold sway over the levers of power, but they allow uncontrolled immigration, promote mindless green energy policies and appear to be more interested in getting along than making principled arguments for limited government.
They’re also about to be annihilated in the general election next month as voters wonder, what’s the point for voting for Labour light? Nigel Farage answered that question Monday by announcing he is running for a seat in Parliament at the head of Reform UK, which offers an alternative for liberty-minded voters.
Mr. Farage is the mastermind of the successful Brexit referendum, and his campaign has Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Conservative, scared. “The Tory brand is broken,” Mr. Farage said on Tuesday. “No one’s more upset than me.”
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A Sky News poll released Wednesday showed Reform UK has already reached 17% support, which is a mere 2 points behind the Tories at 19%. Nearly all national surveys predict Labour leader Keir Starmer will take the keys to No. 10 Downing St. as his party cruises to victory by at least 20 points.
The lopsided results reflect voter dissatisfaction with the current government. In April, a YouGov poll estimated 68% of Britons were unhappy with the leadership in London. That’s why Mr. Farage isn’t worried about becoming an electoral spoiler on July 4.
“It’s done already; the election’s over,” Mr. Farage said. “Labour are going to win. It’s only a question of what the size of the majority is going to be.”
Reform UK is intended to become the principled voice of opposition to Labour that has been missing in the national discussion. Establishment Tories prefer to avoid rocking boats that need to be rocked.
For instance, at least 2.4 million migrants have floated over the English Channel into the island nation in just a few years. While the Conservative Party manifesto vows to “stop the boats,” its business-as-usual members never actually do anything about it.
“You’ve got Slippery Sunak making all sorts of promises after 14 years in power, suddenly they’re going to stop huge numbers of people from coming into our country,” Mr. Farage said. “I don’t believe a blooming word of it, and I don’t think you do, either.”
That’s one of many parallels to what’s happening in the United States. On Tuesday, President Biden issued a slippery pre-election order of his own meant to give the appearance that he is limiting immigration. His scheme has more holes in it than the incomplete border wall Democrats and GOP moderates blocked then-President Donald Trump from completing.
Like the former U.S. president, Mr. Farage has suffered underhanded attacks from a system intent on defending the status quo. His financial accounts were closed for a time after his bank declared the former member of the European Parliament “at best seen as xenophobic and pandering to racists.” The memo justifying the decision added baseless claims about Mr. Farage having “Russian ties.”
It’s no surprise that Mr. Trump and Mr. Farage have bonded over their shared experience or that their common campaign themes are generating an enthusiastic response on both shores. The “Britain first” and “America first” messages are catching on. Time will tell if it’s enough to win the day.
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