Nigel Farage MP (Clacton/Reform UK) has the leadership of the UK in his sights as he responds to the resignation of the Prime Minister. Rushing to his Substack profile to put out a message, the leader of the alternative conservative platform has said an Andy Burnham government isn’t a consideration for those that see the failings of the present figures at the top of the Labour party.
“Burnham won’t solve your problems, because Labour cannot solve your problems. The party is intellectually and morally spent. Backed into a corner by the rabid hard left and their own ideological stubbornness, the only action they’re now capable of is to ban things […] Andy Burnham knows this. He doesn’t care about our borders, our rotten high streets, our energy bills or our collapsing finances.”
His position is the Prime Minister is leaving because he kowtowed to a radical wing of the party with a socialist agenda for a recent plan to ban social media from the smartphones of teenagers. He indicates this shows a lack of ideas. But, he contests, the prospect of a Burnham slate of non-policy is something even worse than the Starmer era of failings.
Reform UK are beaten back right now by some media voices because of their second place finish in Makerfield, despite a large vote share for their candidate, Robert Kenyon, who seems proud of his achievement. Farage therefore has some work to do to convince his pessimists in Westminster that he can win many more seats in a general election and get into power in future.