Nigel Farage plots Tory 'takeover' after 'sarcastic' talk of deal with Rishi Sunak

The Brexit stalwart ventured up to Lincolnshire to shore up support for Reform UK leader Richard Tice after the former Tory donor announced he was standing as the populist party’s candidate.

Tice is battling to overturn Matt Warman’s 25,621-vote majority in the UK’s most pro-Brexit constituency.

Ukip managed to cut Warman’s lead to just 4,336 in 2015, with Robin Hunter-Clarke leapfrogging both Labour and the Liberal Democrats in second-place.

Discussing plans for the future, Farage yet again opened up on his decision not to stand for his eighth Westminster election.

He stressed his “real ambition” was to contest the 2029 General Election and vowed to supplant the Tories as “the opposition”.

Farage told The Times: “I want to reshape the centre-right, whatever that means.”

He added: “Why do you think I called it Reform? Because of what happened in Canada — the 1992-93 precedent in Canada, where Reform comes from the outside, because the Canadian Conservatives had become social democrats like our mob here.

“It took them time, it took them two elections, they became the biggest party on the centre-right.

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“They then absorbed what was left of the Conservative Party into them and rebranded.”

When pushed on whether Farage was suggesting a merger, the former Brexit Party leader quipped: “More like a takeover, dear boy.”

Farage previously hinted at taking inspiration from Donald Trump’s coup of the Republican Party in 2016.

He told The Sun: “What Trump did of course, is he was able to hijack the conservative party in America.

“I’d love to have had a crack at that here in this country.

"But of course, there’s no open primary in this country.

“The Conservative Party, several times, said they wouldn’t have me as a member.

“And it’s why getting anything changed in Britain is really, really hard.”

Trump remains a central figure in the Grand Old Party, winning the nomination ahead of November 5.

However, the 77-year-old was dealt a major blow when a New York jury convicted him on 34 counts in his hush money trial involving adult actress Stormy Daniels.

Farage leapt to Trump’s defence, describing the verdict as a “disgrace” and predicting a “big win” over Joe Biden.

However, Farage’s latest “takeover” comments came just days after he hinted at brokering a deal with Sunak’s Tories.

The Prime Minister, who is facing electoral oblivion on July 4, ruled out an agreement.

Farage opted to put his grievances aside in 2019 when he stood down 317 candidates to ensure Boris Johnson got Brexit over the line.

But after initially suggesting the Tories would need to “give me something back”, the 60-year-old claimed he was being “deeply sarcastic”.

Tice echoed Farage’s response, adding: “It’s you lot [the media] who didn’t have a sense of humour.”

However, there remains speculation about whether Farage could opt to stand in Clacton-on-Sea.

The Essex seaside seat, a reservoir of populism, returned Ukip’s Douglas Carswell as its MP following his defection and elected him yet again in the 2015 General Election.

Tice claimed it would be “fantastic” if Farage reconsidered, noting his former boss has until June 7 to do so.

Reform UK has every opportunity on July 4 to wreak havoc for the Tories, costing the Conservatives dozens of seats across England and Wales.

However, due to the UK’s first-past-the-post system, it is much harder for the populist party to break through into Westminster.

Ukip and the Brexit Party were able to springboard their position through polls to local councils and EU Parliamentary Elections.

Reform UK has instead led a much smaller local campaign and does not have the luxury of disrupting Europhiles in Brussels after Britons opted to sever ties with the bloc in 2016.