'He's their worst nightmare!' Nigel Farage 'runs rings around' Labour MPs amid calls to 'cancel' ex-UKIP leader from I'm A Celeb jungle

The GB News presenter has been getting stuck in after being voted to take part in a number of Bushtucker trials.

However, Farage could face the boot next week when nightly eviction votes begin.

WATCH NOW: GB News discuss ITV's efforts to cut Farage's airtime

Labour MPs Nadia Whittome and Kim Johnson urged the public to call time on Farage’s jungle antics after claiming he holds a “poisonous influence”.

Allies of the former UKIP leader fired back this morning by arguing his detractors fear he is the Remain establishment’s “worst nightmare”.

A source close to Farage issued a reminder that the I'm A Celeb vote is centred on saving contestants rather than removing them, adding: "Bring it on."

A former Brexit Party insider also told GB News: “Nigel’s been running rings around the Remain establishment for the last 10 years. These MPs have now realised how is able to connect with the electorate in a way that they simply can’t. Nigel returning to frontline politics would be the only thing that could foil Labour’s plan to resurrect our relationship with the EU. He will rejuvenate Brexit by connecting with a new audience on I’m A Celeb.”

An ex-UKIP source claimed: “I actually can’t believe that MPs are taking time out of their calendar to focus on attacking someone that their base might actually quite like.”

They continued: “It shows the sort of cancel culture that they endorse and represent that they are frustrated that Nigel is still popular in the public imagination. They basically want to try to prove that he is unpopular at all by encouraging their people to vote him out.

“Nigel is a very astute political operator. He and his team will have a long-term strategy in place by going into the jungle. This could put him in an extremely strong position to make a political challenge going forward.

“These Labour MPs fear that, they would never admit that, but especially with the rise of Reform hitting double-digits in the polls it will also fear the Tories. It absolutely haunts them that they lost the Brexit referendum. They will always hold a grudge.”

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In a warning to Brexiteers, the former UKIP insider added: “Labour are gearing up to slowly phase us back into the EU, you are even seeing that with the Conservatives after David Cameron made comments about the single market. But Nigel Farage poses the biggest threat in stopping the establishment from doing that.

“I don’t think they seem him as an electoral threat right now but, particularly on Brexit and immigration, they see him as a populist threat that can damage them in the polls.”

However, some figures who have worked closely with Farage suggest the 59-year-old could take advantage of the latest call to cancel him.

Belinda de Lucy, who was elected as a Brexit Party MEP in 2019, also told GB News: “I don’t want to put words in Nigel’s mouth but I think he will be very pleased about these calls for him to be cancelled from Labour MPs.

“It’s a reflection of how well he’s doing, how likeable he’s becoming. I think it’s their worst nightmare.”

She added: “What a shame that their priorities are so skewed they’re not focusing on the British people.”

Despite claiming Richard Tice is doing a stellar job as leader of Reform UK, the 47-year-old stressed she hopes Farage returns to the political frontline in the near future as he still has “one more roll of the dice”.

De Lucy claimed: “Labour and the Tories are obsessed with the international stage but Nigel is obsessed with the domestic stage. He’s focusing on housing, NHS appointments, immigration, borders, British values, cultural identity. That is what’s frightening them.

“He’s been very honest which I do think is why politicians don’t like him. He’s using I’m A Celebrity as a platform to connect with younger people and wants airtime as he wants to show his character and he’s not something to be feared.”

Farage, who unsuccessfully stood to become an MP on seven occasions, refused to rule out a return to politics during a conversation with campmates Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson and Eastenders actress Danielle Harold.

He said: “I don’t know. We’ll see. Depends how much of a mess the country gets in. I honestly don’t know. It’s not an easy job.”

Farage will return to the United Kingdom with the country just as politically febrile as when he left.

Data released just a few weeks ago showed net immigration remains well-above post-Brexit expectations and Remain-supporting ex-Prime Minister Lord David Cameron was appointed as Foreign Secretary during Rishi Sunak's reshuffle.

Reform UK, which emerged from the embers of the Brexit Party, is also hitting around 10 per cent in the opinion polls.

The return of Farage could help propel the populist party to the support obtained by UKIP in 2015.

UKIP received almost four million votes under Farage’s leadership in 2015, with Douglas Carswell retaining Clacton.

Farage, alongside 120 other UKIP candidates, also finished in second-place following a hard-fought election campaign.

However, the 59-year-old’s main success beyond the 2016 Brexit referendum is often embodied by the number of Eurosceptic MEPs elected to sit in Brussels.

UKIP and the Brexit Party topped the polls in 2014 and 2019.

Farage’s seismic victory in 2014 was the first time either the Tories or Labour failed to win the popular vote at a nationwide election since 1906.

Despite making his mark in the jungle, Whittome and Johnson slammed Farage for his role in the referendum.

Whittome told The Mirror: “ITV should never have given him a platform to launder his ­reputation and I would urge anyone considering voting to keep him on to think twice. From the racist ­undertones of his Brexit campaigning, to the climate denialism he’s pushed, Farage is not some affable clown but a poisonous influence on our society.”

Johnson added: “People should remember where Farage came from, what he’s said and what he’s been responsible for. It was him who helped peddle that racist narrative. In 2016, we saw a hike in race hate crime as a result. The fact he’s reportedly been paid £1.5million is just atrocious. Kick him out of there so he doesn’t get airtime.”

However, calls to remove Farage could potentially backfire after a former Number 10 pollster previously warned his involvement in I'm A Celeb could be more consequential than Cameron's Cabinet return.

"Nigel Farage going into I’m A Celebrity is more long-term politically significant than David Cameron becoming Foreign Secretary," James Johnson said before the first episode aired.