It’s an old rule of journalism that a well-placed question can predetermine the headline. Especially if the person you ask falls into the trap. Four weeks before a general election, it is inexplicable that newspapers like The Times either Guardian headline their digital editions with statements from the conservative candidate, Rishi Sunak, that sound like defeatism. “I will not resign before voting day, Sunak insists”, or “Prime Minister promises to fight until the last day of the campaign”.
The journalists had asked the candidate about the rumor of the last few hours: the possibility that he would throw in the towel early, given the general feeling that the defeat of the tories Next July 4th is going to be loud. What was surprising was that Sunak was forced to deny it. The Conservative Party has entered an apparent state of decomposition that opens the doors to the most absurd and risky debates. For example, if the cordon sanitaire that the torieshave imposed in recent years around the ultra-populist Nigel Farage and embrace as a prodigal son the politician who promoted Brexit and has shaken the waters of the United Kingdom like no other.
“I would welcome Nigel to the Conservative Party. There are not really many differences between his policies and those that we defend,” said the former Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, in an interview with The Times. Sunak’s most visceral rival that the hard wing of the party has produced is already looking for a good starting position in the leadership race that will open after the foreseeable electoral debacle. “We are a very open space, and we should be an inclusive party with those who are willing to support it,” Braverman defended.
Like that anecdote repeated a thousand times – and probably apocryphal – from the English newspaper that once titled “fog in the English Channel: the continent, isolated”, British conservatives are capable of seeing with amazement the rise of the extreme right in Europe and not detect it at home. And that is the reason why the issue is perceived by some tories rather as an annoyance that must be resolved than as an existential threat from a party that, for decades, aspired to represent the moderate soul of the island’s inhabitants better than any other.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of the Eurosceptic leaders who most contributed to changing the face of the party during the bitter years of Brexit, has also applauded these days the idea of joining forces with Reform UK, Farage’s party, before the elections. “Nigel is a very important political figure, who very powerfully represents a particular swathe of the electorate and public opinion,” Rees-Mogg has argued to justify his suggestion that Sunak pick up the phone and call Farage.
The turn of the polls
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The emergence on the scene of the populist politician, who initially ruled out being a candidate in an election whose advance caught him against the grain, has shaken up the polls. Before the announcement, the company YouGovit did not give any seats to Reform UK. With Farage in the campaign, the party could now have, in the best of cases, up to four deputies. In a House of Commons with 650 representatives the figure sounds harmless. But it would be the first time that the quintessential agitator of UK politics set foot in Westminster, after having tried up to seven times without success. His voice, which was already heard in the European Parliament, would now come out of his usual ecosystem, the pubsyy right-wing television channels like GB News,to break into British institutions.
AND YouGov He also warns that the recovered strength of Reform UK, with Farage back at the helm, could divide the Conservative vote into up to 30 constituencies and make it easier for the Labor Party to take over those seats, thus further reducing the very poor parliamentary representation that The surveys already predict the tories.
The voices against Farage
Sunak, of whom Farage has even dared to say that “he is not a patriot” after his shock at the commemorative events in France for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, tries to ignore his rival’s threat and even downplay it: “No I am interested in what comes from Reform UK, honestly, I am more concerned that my agenda reaches the British electorate,” the prime minister appeared indifferent this Monday.
Other relevant figures in the party have understood that the battle must be fought. The Minister of Business and Energy, Kemi Badenoch, is a young, black woman, extremely intelligent and brave when it comes to expressing herself, who attracts the support of moderates and not so moderates in the ranks tories. “Nigel Farage remains at loggerheads with many Conservatives, including some of my Government colleagues. What he seeks is to destroy the Conservative Party,” Badenoch assured the LBC channel shortly after the politician’s candidacy became known. “The Conservative Party is an institution. It is the oldest party in the world. “We should talk about how to preserve its strength, instead of throwing garbage at it, destroying it or debating who is going to replace it,” he stated bluntly.
The minister, one of the loudest voices against Farage, along with that of the Minister of the Interior, James Cleverly, was not misguided in a party terrified at the idea of offending that conservative electorate that looks with sympathy on the populist candidate and his radical ideas. to end immigration.
“Our plan is to be the true opposition party in the next Parliament and to become the most supported party in the United Kingdom in the 2029 elections,” proclaims the Reform UK candidate, who even dares to invite the that send siren songs that they abandon the ranks tories and join their training. “That is our ambition, and I really believe that we can achieve a greater number of votes than the conservatives in these elections. “They are on the brink of absolute collapse,” he predicted.
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