In the upcoming general election, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, has personally endorsed two candidates from the DUP, despite his party’s association with the opposing TUV party. Farage has expressed his support for Ian Paisley and Sammy Wilson, revealing that although there have been prior negotiations, he confidently backs the DUP candidates. In his remarks, he emphasised that “new leadership brings new change”, while wishing TUV luck, he confirmed his allegiance by saying “I fought with Sammy Wilson and Ian Paisley all through the Brexit years”.
Both Paisley and Wilson conveyed their gratitude for Farage’s backing, hinting it would be a blow to TUV leader, Jim Allister, labelling it as “embarrassing”. Allister expressed his dismay at Farage’s comments, stating it contradicts the discussion they had the previous week. Long-time DUP parliamentarians, Paisley and Wilson, are both vying for re-election in East Antrim and North Antrim respectively. Conversely, Allister is opposing Paisley in North Antrim, while TUV’s Matthew Warwick is running in East Antrim.
Likewise, an image of Farage with Paisley has appeared on DUP campaign materials. Earlier in the year, a political partnership was announced by former leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, with TUV. However, TUV’s request to label their candidates as TUV/Reform UK on voting slips was ultimately denied by the Electoral Office.
Despite this, Allister maintained that TUV entered the electoral arrangement with Reform UK genuinely and had honoured the agreement. In his view, “ordinary voters”, who appreciate the truth about the destructive union protocol and condemnation of DUP’s deceptive claims about eradicating the Irish Sea border, is the endorsement TUV seeks in this election. Moreover, Paisley and Wilson argued that Farage’s recognition is due to reliability on large-scale issues rather than siding with Allister, and inevitably claimed that the TUV-Reform UK relationship is virtually non-existent.
The call for TUV to abandon its Reform UK label comes in light of some recent events. Nigel Farage, who is a prominent right-leaning British politician and a staunch advocate of Brexit, is known for his key role in founding the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Brexit Party. The latter subsequently underwent rebranding and came to be known as Reform UK.
Currently a GB News presenter, Mr Farage recently assumed leadership of Reform UK and became an electoral candidate. His real-life exploits also extend to participating in ITV’s reality show, ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here’, where he claimed third place in December. He is now campaigning as a candidate in the Clacton constituency in Essex for the impending elections.
The general elections scheduled for July 4th will see Northern Ireland voters casting their votes in 18 constituencies to elect MPs. The nominations have closed, resulting in a total of 136 candidates standing for election. This is a significant increase from the 102 candidates who registered for the 2019 elections. Of note, only the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland have fielded candidates in all 18 constituencies.
One wonders about Nigel Farage’s ultimate political intentions.