LONDON — Nigel Farage, who helped champion Britain’s departure from the European Union, said on Monday he would stand as a candidate in next month’s election and will lead the right-wing Reform Party in a major blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The surprise U-turn by Farage, now a TV host, will boost his movement’s profile and challenge Sunak’s Conservatives for the support of right-leaning voters at a time when the governing party is already badly trailing the Labour Party in the polls.
Farage, 60, had previously said he would not stand in the July 4 vote in order to help Donald Trump fight the U.S. election later this year. But Farage said he changed his mind because he felt guilty not standing up for people who had become disillusioned with politics and had always backed him.
“We are going to be the voice of opposition, and I tell you what, I have done it before, I’ll do it again, I’ll surprise everybody,” Farage told a news conference, saying it was a fait accompli that Labour would win but that he wanted to position Reform as its main opponent.
He said he would lead a “political revolt” in Britain because “nothing in this country works anymore”, citing problems with public services.
Although Farage has stood unsuccessfully for parliament seven times he is still one of the most influential British politicians of his generation, putting pressure on a succession of prime ministers to take tougher positions on the EU and on tackling immigration.
Shunned by the British political establishment and backed by Eurosceptic financiers, Farage helped sell Brexit to millions of voters who felt ignored by the main Conservative and Labour parties.
Although he was educated at an expensive school and worked as a commodities trader, he has cultivated an image of an anti-establishment figure. He is routinely pictured with a cigarette in one hand and a pint of beer in the other.
Farage, who has survived testicular cancer and a plane crash, will also take over as leader of Reform, replacing Richard Tice, who said before Farage took the stage the party wanted a way to “turn on the rocket boosters” to the election campaign.