“This is going to be huge”, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage predicts as the first results of Britain’s intense night of election results begins.
The first seats for Britain’s next Parliament have been declared and while they have all undeniably been Labour stronghold areas that the party was expected to win, one object of surprise has been a repeated story of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party coming in second every time.
While there is no escaping Britain’s electoral system, where the number of votes any given party gets nationally very rarely — if ever — is reflected in the actual power they get in terms of seats, it would still be an incredible coup — and real bragging rights for Mr Farage — if he walks away with the second highest number of votes tonight.
While so few seats have yet been declared and the exit poll makers were absolutely clear they do not feel confident in the prediction for Reform to make definite inroads into the Parliament, Mr Farage seemed bullish tonight and reflected positively on those second-place finishes.
He said: “There were two results in for the North-East of England that put Reform at 30 per cent of the vote, that is far more than any possible projection or prediction, it’s almost unbelievable.”
This augers well for the party, he said, stating it means “we’re going to win seats. Many, many seats I think, right now across the country.”
He accused the “mainstream media” of being in denial about this, and building upon his past experience in general elections — Farage got nearly four million votes as leader of UKIP but only one seat — Mr Farage predicted tonight a strong result in votes. He said: “This is going to be six million votes-plus, folks. This is going to be huge”.
What will actually happen for Reform tonight, it is simply too early to say. Tens of dozens of strong second-place finishes nationwide will be simply devastating if there are no wins to have made it all worthwhile. But so far, Reform is emerging as the news story of the night.