Nigel Farage ended his 2024 election campaign with a simple, emotive appeal to family, community and “the country we recognise, the country we know”.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, made a surprise return to British politics just four weeks ago and has garnered attention in this short general election campaign, but with voting opening early on Thursday morning, the race is now all but over. Farage ended his campaign this evening in the Clacton constituency, which he is hoping to win.
Emerging from the roof hatch of a former British Army “Snatch” armoured vehicle, the Brexit Party leader addressed themes familiar from many of his other rallies of the campaign, but at the heart of his speech was an emotional appeal to fundamental aspects of individual and collective identity – something he must have instinctively felt has long since fallen out of fashion with smart people, yet which still cherishes for many. He said:
“Everybody’s talking about who’s going to be their MP, but for us that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Our goal and ambition over the next few years is to make this a massive grassroots movement of millions of people, because we want our country back… we want the country that we recognise and know back.”
And everything we fight for is based on the principles of family, community, and country. We are unashamedly patriotic and proud of who we are… Only those at the top of this country do not share the pride we feel deep in our hearts. Sure, that’s an emotional statement, but what’s so bad about that? We love this country, we love our communities, we love our families, and we’re not going to sit by and watch these things get ruined.
Speaking to voters in his home constituency, Farage said Britain was tired of being “talked about poorly and our children told the wrong things by the media, by politicians and by schools”, and said he wanted the Fourth of July to be “the first step of truly historic political change to change the country for the better for our children and our grandchildren”.
The election for the seat of Clacton marks Nigel Farage’s eighth attempt to enter the UK Parliament. By his own admission, his other elections have been protest vehicles and publicity stunts only, but he frequently points out that his last campaign for the UK Parliament saw a Conservative campaigner convicted of serious breaches of campaign finance rules that were used against his campaign.
The polls appear to be in Farage’s favour, but they are unscientific and fickle. It is not yet clear whether Farage will be officially elected as an MP by Friday morning, but this is likely as each vote is counted.
