Some MPs are urging Rishi Sunak to do a deal with the former Brexit Party leader, who is due to return from Australia after appearing in I’m A Celebrity…
Reform is hovering at around eight per cent in the polls, but it is thought much of this support comes from disgruntled Tory
voters who could be convinced to switch back.
A survey by WeThink found 67 per cent of Reform supporters would be more likely to vote Conservative if Mr Farage joined.
Only seven per cent of those asked said they would be less likely and 25 per cent said it would make no difference.
But 38 per cent of Labour voters say they would be even less likely to vote Tory – with just 11 per cent saying they would be more likely to do so.
Many Conservative MPs say the decision by the Brexit Party not to stand candidates in seats they were defending in the 2019 general election contributed to their overwhelming victory.
The Brexit Party changed its name to Reform UK a year later.
A senior Tory said: “I’d love to see Farage. He should definitely be in the House of Lords. There should have been a great coming together after Brexit.”
Another said: “We should probably do a deal. We should allow him into the party if there’s a constituency that wants to select him.”
A Red Wall MP said: “I would definitely welcome Nigel into the party.”
But the 2019-intake Tory added: “If he wants to challenge us outside the party, well, bring it on because he’s
not managed to win a seat yet.”
Reform may have influenced the result in recent high-profile by-elections, when Labour took Mid-Bedfordshire and Tamworth after big voting swings at the expense of the Tories.
In both constituencies, the Reform and Conservative vote combined would have been enough to beat Sir Keir Starmer’s candidates.
Speaking on I’m A Celebrity…Gat Me Out Of Here!, Mr Farage suggested he could one day rejoin the Tories, which he left in 1992 – but suggested it would be as the leader.
He said: “There is a lot of speculation after they lose the next election, maybe Nigel becomes leader of the Tory party one day, so there’s a lot of chatter about whether it is going to happen – I have no idea.
“The important thing is to say this – never say never.”
