Nigel Farage reveals he is 'open-minded' about joining Tory Party

Nigel Farage reveals he is 'open-minded' about joining Tory Party

Holden says any application from Farage 'will be considered on its merits'

GB NEWS
Millie Cooke

By Millie Cooke


Published: 05/02/2024

- 09:44

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously suggested he would welcome Nigel Farage back into the party

Nigel Farage has revealed he is "open minded" about joining the Conservative Party after the general election.

While he ruled out a move to join the party before the next election, he suggested the move is a possibility afterwards.


He told the Telegraph: "I think we just have to wait to see. I'm open-minded about anything that happens after the election."

Farage pointed to factors such as the size of a possible Labour victory and the performance of Reform UK, adding: "Let's see."

\u200b\u200bPrime Minister Rishi Sunak/Nigel Farage

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously suggested he would welcome Nigel Farage back into the party

PA

He continued: "But for me the thought that the official Conservative Party is ever going to move, it doesn’t look very likely. But who knows?”

Speaking during the Conservative Party Conference, Sunak suggested he would welcome Nigel Farage back into the Conservative Party. This came after Farage attended the Conservative Party Conference for the first time in 30 years.

And party chairman Richard Holden last month said any application from Farage would be "considered on its merits".

Asked whether he wants Farage to join the party, in the wake of disastrous new polling which put Reform UK just eight points behind the Tories, Holden told GB News: "Polls bounce around. Obviously you know, any application will be considered on its merits."

The former MEP left the Conservative Party in 1992 after the UK signed the Maastricht Treaty.

When asked whether Sunak could welcome the Brexit Party leader back into his party, the Prime Minister said: "Look, the Tory party is a broad church. I welcome lots of people who want to subscribe to our ideals, to our values."

When pressed whether this philosophy extends even to Farage, Sunak responded: "Look the thing I care about is delivering for the country and the more people as we've seen at this conference - we've had record attendance I think at this conference. Lots of energy, lots of engagement.

"People are responding to what we are doing. We're making the right long term decisions for the country. We want to bring change, that's what I'm about."

He added: "The contrast with Labour could not be clearer. You've got Keir Starmer no one knows what he stands for - he flip flops left and right.

"The country can see through that, that's not leadership. What I'm offering is different.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

Richard Holden

Tory party chairman Richard Holden last month said any application from Farage would be "considered on its merits".

GB NEWS


"I know people want change, I'm the person to deliver it because we're going to do politics differently.

"You saw that on net zero, you will see that this week. That's what you get from a Conservative Government."

Cabinet minister Chris Heaton-Harris told LBC he thinks Farage “feels at home coming to the party that delivered Brexit".

You may like