'He's throwing s**t!' Nigel Farage 'overreacted' by blasting Boris Johnson as ex-PM poses 'big threat' to Reform UK

Farage accused the former Prime Minister of "hypocrisy" as he brandished a copy of a newspaper frontpage from 2016 showing Johnson blaming Brussels for Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea, adding: "He's the worst Prime Minister of modern times."

The Reform UK leader fired back against Johnson after warning the West played a huge role in Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Johnson, much-revered in the ex-Soviet state for assisting Volodymyr Zelensky's efforts, claimed Farage was "parroting Putin's lies" with "nauseating ahistorical drivel".

Allies of the former Prime Minister have told GB News that Farage's attack was an "overreaction" amid speculation that the rump of Tory MPs in the House of Commons could turn to Johnson after July 4.

"Farage is panicking and throwing s**t at the wall," a former Johnson aide said. "Farage overreacted and was too over-zealous."

The ex-No10 insider, who suggested ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel is the Tory leadership contender to watch, added: "Sunak and Starmer leave the UK crying out for a popular, celebrity figure.

"The only two with any cut-through or celebrity quality are Farage and Boris.

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"There's only room for one. They will always be trying to outmuscle each other to take that slot."

Addressing speculation about the former Prime Minister plotting a Churchill-style comeback, the insider claimed: "It would be pretty out of character if Boris didn't want to come back.

"It depends who's left after the election but there will be a whole bunch of MPs who survive and many will regret the insane events from June 2022.

"In terms of neutralising Reform and having the cut through to take on a Labour Prime Minister, who else is better placed than Boris?

"I think Boris would relish taking on Farage. He has the toughest skin in politics and I think those kind of things, Farage's overreaction, is nothing compared to the s**t Boris has faced. It's just complete water off a duck's back."

Another former No10 insider told GB News: "Nigel Farage is only resonating in this campaign because Boris Johnson is not involved. He has never won a seat not to mention secured the record victory for his party that Boris did in 2019.

"And he has no record of governing or delivering at any level, so he's not remotely in a position to judge. But the parliamentary Conservative Party made a choice two years ago to ditch their greatest electoral asset and they are now stuck with the consequences."

A Tory source added: "It's personal. Nigel sees Boris as a big threat to his advancement as they are too close: Brexiteers; greater campaigners; charismatic.

"Nigel won't want to play second fiddle and will want to be top dog. Boris' return would be a big threat to Reform and Reform has been fuelled by the lack of Boris."

Support for Reform UK skyrocketed after Farage announced his candidacy in Clacton after ruling out contesting a constituency.

Opinion polls suggest the populist party, which initially struggled after rebranding from the Brexit Party, is now neck-and-neck with Rishi Sunak's Tories.

Conservative commentators have claimed that the Tories would fare better if Johnson was still leader, pointing to his two victories in London and landslide 2019 win over Jeremy Corbyn.

Johnson, who celebrated his 60th birthday last week, was forced out of Downing Street after Sunak spearheaded a Cabinet cabal in June 2022.

The former Prime Minister was facing a backlash following a number of scandals, including Partygate and the Chris Pincher debacle.

However, following Liz Truss' minibudget, Sunak was unable to turn the Tory Party's fortunes around.

The Conservatives suffered several by-election defeats and were decimated in last month's local elections.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to become Prime Minister after July 4, with opinion polls giving Labour a 20-point lead over the Tories.

The Conservative Party trailed Labour by just six points in the final survey conducted before Johnson announced his intention to step down.

Following Johnson's departure, Tory support has collapsed as both 2016 Brexit-backers and 2019 Tory voters pivoted to Farage.

Farage's decision to stand could lead to the Tories facing electoral oblivion.

Johnson saw off the threat from Farage in 2019 as the Reform UK leader stood down 317 Brexit Party candidates in Conservative-held seats.

Farage claimed he was offered a peerage for his efforts, later labelling the overture "corruption on the most extraordinary level".

The former Prime Minister, who allegedly did not directly make the offer, previously dismissed the claim as "nonsense".

Despite praising Johnson for campaigning for Brexit in 2016, Farage did not hold back in his criticism of the ex-London Mayor yesterday.

Speaking on the campaign trail in Kent, the Reform UK leader said: "Well, perhaps it's Boris Johnson that's morally repugnant and not me, I don't know. But can you see the sheer level of hypocrisy? Can you see the nonsense of all of this?"

During the 2016 Brexit referendum, Johnson dismissed the EU as a "force for instability", attacking its "pretensions to run a foreign policy and defence policy".

He added: "If you want an example of EU policymaking on the hoof and EU pretensions to running defence policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in Ukraine."

However, Johnson pivoted his position to slam Farage after the Brexit supremo made his initial intervention on foreign affairs last week.

The ex-Prime Minister wrote on social media: "This is nauseating ahistorical drivel and more Kremlin propaganda.

"Nobody provoked Putin. Nobody ‘poked the bear with a stick’. The people of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly in 1991 to be a sovereign and independent country.

"They were perfectly entitled to seek both Nato and EU membership. There is only one person responsible for Russian aggression against Ukraine – both in 2014 and 2022 – and that is Putin. To try to spread the blame is morally repugnant and parroting Putin’s lies."

Johnson also endorsed Farage's Clacton Conservative rival, Giles Watling, saying: "Voting Conservative is the only way to stop Labour getting in, raking up a huge majority and doing all the things we really don't want; kowtowing to Brussels, more migration, more illegal immigration into this country, more wokery."

GB News has approached Johnson and Farage for comment.