The loudest man in politics knows when to keep his silence. Nigel Farage held his tongue as Keir Starmer’s premiership floundered. Aside from a few PFLs – proper f***ing lunches – to celebrate the local election results, the Reform UK leader was already looking to the next challenge. Like a shark, Farage keeps moving forward, into new waters, hungry for more. One ally sums up his approach to politics in a single word: “Momentum.”

For the past few months, Farage has had one goal: destroying the Tories. The figure “1,453” was the total of gains proudly pumped out on Reform’s Instagram. For Farage, May 7 was the political equivalent of the fall of Constantinople – the point when the Conservatives ceased to be a national party. Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex were particularly targeted: the aim was to knock as many bricks as possible out of the Blue Wall. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, had worked hard to bolster the party’s economic credibility to appeal to ex-Conservatives. It paid off: there was an eight-point shift in the local elections from 2024 Tory voters to Reform.

Now, Farage’s focus is Labour’s heartlands. His speech in Sunderland marks the beginning of a campaign to woo the trade unions: an attempt to break the link between Starmer’s party and the working classes, which has been ironclad for more than a century. After all the talk of “too many Tories” in Reform, the criticism now will be about “left-wing Farage.”

He has the freedom to move around unconstrained, zigzagging across the political chessboard

He has the freedom to move around unconstrained, zigzagging across the political........

© The Spectator