Nigel Farage has said voting for the Conservative Party is a “wasted vote” as he set out Reform UK’s election campaign agenda in Dover.
The Reform honorary president, who has declined to stand as an MP, launched the party’s campaign at a yacht club on the Kent seafront, which he described as the “frontline of the great national debate on immigration”.
Speaking to press and supporters, Mr Farage said the Tories have “wrecked it for themselves” and rejected the Conservative argument that a vote for Reform is a vote for Labour.
The former Ukip leader said: “This election is a foregone conclusion. Labour are going to win and they’re going to win quite big.
“And therefore you could argue, actually, that a vote for the Conservative Party is a wasted vote.
“And given that, you know, Labour are going to win, why not vote for something that you actually believe in?”
He said he changed the party’s name from Brexit to Reform because the party is not after a “quick hit” but seeking to “build a base” and “launch a serious assault” in the next election of 2028 or 2029.
He ruled out electoral pacts or coalition agreements, adding: “This is now a six-year plan. This is our first big election. It’s the place to try to spearhead into Parliament. We’re building a campaign for the 2029 general election.
“We are here to be the voice of opposition.”
Mr Farage, who has unsuccessfully stood as a Ukip candidate at five general elections and two by-elections, described illegal immigration to the UK as a “national security emergency”.
He said: “I think what we ought to be doing with this situation here is declaring a national security emergency and this is an emergency.
“I talked over the course of the weekend to Trevor Phillips about the small but worryingly growing number of young men, predominantly young men in this country, adopting radical views, views that aren’t just un-British, but views that frankly are extremely anti-British.”
After his interview on Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Farage was accused of “incendiary rhetoric”.
Asked about his comments in Dover, he said: “I’ve always been prepared to put my head up and talk about things that other people would rather brushed under the carpet.”
On integration, he said he was proud of the UK having the “best levels” of integration in Europe in the post-war period, but added about net migration: “The thing is out of control.”
Mr Farage took pictures with supporters with a pint of beer in hand following the campaign speech.
The launch, also announcing Howard Cox as Reform’s Dover candidate, comes as Dover MP Natalie Elphicke defected from the Conservatives to Labour and will not be standing at the next election.
Dover and Deal Conservative Association chairperson Keith Single has said “don’t write us off” as the process of selecting a new Tory candidate takes place.
Labour has said its existing candidate, Mike Tapp, will stand in Dover.
Ms Elphicke increased the Conservatives’ majority to 12,278 in the 2019 election.
