The past few months in British politics have been frustrating. Predictably, Keir Starmer has been bulldozing his way through the honeymoon stage of his government. Polls already suggest that the public mood is beginning to strain towards the divorce proceedings.
This is hardly surprising. After all, the Labour majority was secured with a minimal democratic mandate, Starmer’s pitch having won no more than 20% of the vote, and the party’s skewed priorities suggest that their hopes for a second term in 2029 will quickly evaporate. It seems inconceivable that they will secure more votes in the next election than they did recently. This automaton of a prime minister has already waged war on the people of the northern heartlands and, for good measure, has ripped away the winter fuel allowance from pensioners, with a callousness that might make even Thatcher the milk-snatcher gasp. With the Tories now in opposition and embroiled in a leadership contest where uninspiring figures must pretend to be bold new champions of conservatism, the fields are ripe for harvesting disenchanted voters. As the Conservatives flounder, now is the time for Nigel Farage and Reform to leapfrog them and seize the nation’s attention. Yet, for many on the Right, Farage’s perceived incrementalism is proving hard to tolerate.
In a recent interview on GB News with journalist Steven Edginton, Nigel Farage gave an admittedly deflating performance. Farage is at his best when he is forthright, charismatic, and passionate. By comparison, his answers to Edginton’s crucial questions were evasive, cautious, and remote. While each response could be dissected in detail, it’s worth focusing on his answer about whether he supported the mass deportation of all illegal aliens to have entered Britain. Having initially opposed the suggestion, Farage then remarked more ambiguously, “It’s impossible to do. Literally impossible. But do we have to begin the process? Yes.” Despite the equivocation, actively starting such a process is already more than any other main party is proposing, and Farage has previously advocated for the deportation of these criminal chancers. The question is one of scale—a scale that Farage claims is a “political impossibility.” When Edginton offered him the chance to commit to mass deportations as an ultimate goal, Farage once again backed away from the notion.
Whether Farage’s reluctance towards mass deportations stems from logistical concerns or a lack of will, his unclear stance has served to discourage his own support base. The truth is, we are approaching the eleventh hour. Every day, our nation’s hourglass empties as societal decline is accelerated by multiculturalism, mass immigration, and a two-tier justice system. For better or worse, no one other than Nigel Farage has managed to harness Britain’s populist energy and convert it into a political movement. Despite existing for over three decades and attracting principled people with patriotic instincts, the SDP remains anonymous to anyone other than political junkies. UKIP exists only as a relic of the past decade. This leaves Reform as the only party with a tangible hope of dismantling the Blairite consensus that dominates Westminster. Those of us who believe in the politics of people and place cannot counter the globalist forces that are ranged against us without gaining substantial representation in parliament. For all of Farage’s shortcomings, Reform is the only tool we have.
There was one more answer from Farage in his brush with Edginton that warrants attention. I speak of his assessment of Enoch Powell:
Intellectually an extraordinary man. Maybe not a very good politician … He could have easily become leader of the Conservative Party. Thatcher became leader in ’75; it really should have been him, but he blew it. He was in a hurry. He made a speech that was unwise and lived with it for the rest of his career.
It’s worth noting that Farage unequivocally praised Powell as a scholar, with no caveats. His consistent defence of Powell throughout his political career shows a sincere respect for the man’s stature. Powell was an intellectual titan, one of the finest of his age. Yet for all of his academic prowess and prophetic insights, he failed to achieve power. So instead he became known amongst right-wing circles as ‘the greatest minister Britain never had.”
Of all the things Farage could have highlighted, it’s intriguing that he chose Powell’s impatience and boldness. If Powell had bided his time and not provided his own party with the rope with which to hang him, he could have addressed the immigration concerns from a position of strength. Instead he was bold, principled and consequently pilloried by an establishment consensus that marked him out as the execrable figurehead for anti-immigrant sentiment. To borrow a quotation from Tony Blair: “Power without principle is barren, but principle without power is futile.” While I don’t suggest Farage secretly aligns with all of Powell’s views, it’s evident that Farage fears dedicating decades to a “political revolt” only to see it crumble from a single needless misstep, as happened to Powell. The stakes are simply too high.
Regardless of what we think of Nigel Farage, it’s clear that he leads Reform out of a sense of moral duty to the UK. While his positions on deportations may seem too moderate and his quoting of Martin Luther King might feel out of touch as younger generations rise, Farage remains a necessary force. Reform’s rise could buy us time, slowing the decline until fresher, bolder faces emerge in British politics—free from the old paradigms that still restrain Farage. As conditions worsen under Labour, public opinion will inevitably shift toward bold and perhaps radical action.
I believe that while Farage currently denies supporting mass deportations, he may come around to it in the coming years. Labour’s progressive ideology prevents them from mitigating the threat that Reform poses—and so our maladies will expand—and the Conservatives must not be allowed back into power. Reform not only can win the next election—they must. If those of us on the Right engage in purity spirals, as the Left is infamously prone to doing, and act aloof and disconnected from the genuine populist spirit that is gaining momentum amongst ordinary voters, we risk losing any influence over the trajectory of a force that can help us save Britain.
