NIGEL Farage hammered his rivals yesterday — calling Sir Keir Starmer “shocking” and labelling the Conservatives a “busted brand”.
He mocked Labour’s first months in power since the election in July at Reform UK’s party conference.
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The leader told a crowd of 3,000: “Goodness me, have you ever known a new Prime Minister get off to a worse start than Keir Starmer?”
He also slammed Labour’s doom and gloom warnings about the economy, saying: “It’s truly shocking. I mean, the message of ‘things can only get worse’ is hardly inspiring, is it?”
Mr Farage told the event in Birmingham he wanted to win the next election.
He said: “We’re living in a state with two-tier justice. We’re living in a state that is led by two-tier Keir and we’ve had enough already.”
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He also insisted he did not “give a damn” who the next Conservative leader will be following their election contest.
But he attacked the candidates, saying James Cleverly had “the most inappropriate surname”.
He mocked Kemi Badenoch for believing working in McDonald’s “for a week makes them working class”. But, while he accused the Lib Dems of having no policies, he said Reform could learn from Sir Ed Davey’s party in building up support in target areas.
He said: “They managed with a vote much lower than ours to win 72 seats in Parliament.”
Reform members will today vote on a new constitution for Reform UK that would see Mr Farage surrender his controlling stake to a party board with elected representatives.
Reform’s new constitution
By Harry Cole, Political Editor
THERE were fireworks, balloons and a 60 year old Nigel Farage singing along to Eminem as he took the stage.
Reform UK’s massive gathering in Birmingham’s cavernous National Exhibition Centre was certainly not your typical party conference.
The 3,000 mostly older fans bopping along to “Guess Who’s Back, Shady’s back” certainly made for a surreal sight.
We’ve got used to Farage pulling a big crowd, but not able to translate his 4million votes at the last election to more than a handful of MPs.
But behind the scenes we got a much rarer image – the Brexit boss surrendering control of the party that was nothing without its frontman.
Declaring Reform had “come of age” and a proper ground campaign and vetting structure by the next election, Farage has given up his controlling stake.
A new party constitution will alter the power structures in the party making him accountable to a new board with elected members on it.
For a man who famously likes being in charge and with some other big characters emerging in the party, it could be more than stage fireworks before long…