I watched too much television news last night.
There was much coverage of Badenoch's sacking of Jenrick.
And then there was the Reform show as Jenrick, re-emerged late, in a hastily arranged Farage news conference.
Jenrick came out of this looking a lot less clever than he likes to think he is.
Badenoch was the clear winner of the day: rarely can an opposition leader as weak as she is have done so well.
But Farage interested me most. He looked uncomfortable, annoyed, and simply out of sorts with himself as a news agenda over which it turned out he had little control developed around him, and that matters.
Leadership of anything is about being able to react to events as much as it is about being able to stage them. We all know Farage can stage events. The stunt, the news conference, the appearance of being the "cheeky upstart"; all of these are things Farage has fine-tuned to the point where the novelty must have well and truly worn off, even for the most ardent fan. But what really matters is how you manage the unexpected, and Farage gave us a rare insight into that yesterday.
He was annoyed that Jenrick was late, apparently because he got lost in Millbank Tower (which, in fairness, is not hard: the lifts are perverse in the floors they serve, as I recall, and I have been there many times), and it showed. But more than that, he looked bored, indecisve and maybe just a little resentful as Jenrick spoke.
Let's be honest, I suspect 20 minutes on Jenrick's political philosophy was boring. Forgetting to mention the glory of his new leader for that length of time was probably not wise. As already noted, Jenrick is not nearly as clever as he would like to think he is. But that being said, Farage revealed three things.
The first was that he does not like not being in charge, and political leaders have to realise that events sometimes run them, and vice versa. Yesterday did not run according to his agenda. It could have done: he could have delayed things, but he did not. He could have kept control, but he did not. In that case, what he revealed is that he might not have the aptitude to be a political leader at all. When out of control, he looked very out of sorts.
Second, he does not like being upstaged, and he had been and very obviously resented it.
Thirdly, he made it clear why he finds it so hard to preserve the loyalty of those who supposedly support him, as we have seen with the steady attrition of MPs elected as Reform members who have already departed the party. Unless feigning loyalty is offered, I very strongly suspect that withering contempt flows in the other direction, and very quickly. Jenrick will, I suspect, be on the end of that by this morning, being soundly put in his place by another leader who does not see him as their heir apparent.
This was not a jolly jape for Jenrick.
This told us a lot about Farage.
What it said was that Reform is becoming a refuge for failed and toxic Tories whose sole remaining qualification for office is their arrogance in the face of their own indifference, not least towards their own lack of ability. But it also said something more than that. It said Farage lacks a decisive bite. He failed to run this. He did not make Jenrick wait to show him who is in charge, and paid a heavy price for that. He did not lay down the rules, as a leader should have done. And he then very obviously showed he realised he had made a mistake, and that was not clever.
Was this a one-off mistake or the revelation of something deeper? I cannot be sure, of course, but I tend towards the second view. There has been little to upset the Farage stage management. This did, and he failed badly. This man would make a very bad prime minister.
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Well noted.
I am sure that once Reform were elected, Farage would just leave, wanting ‘his life back’ (ah, so much personal sacrifice) and leave us with the consequences just as he did over BREXIT. Disruption is the game for him, not leadership – it has too much responsibility and accountability and as a former trader, he won’t have much in the way of the those two attributes.
Agreed. Appropriately added.
Fintan O’ Toole’s excellent ‘Heroic Failure: BREXIT & The Politics of Pain’ (2019) provides the ammunition to bring down Farage – a trader who – after nonchalantly losing others people’s money – would toddle off to a long (liquid) lunch and still have his job when he got back – totally unaccountable for his actions and pretty secure and wealthy enough to weather the consequences unlike most of those in the suckers-sphere who find him a viable answer to their problems/satisfy their prejudices.
I expect that he’ll hand over the reins to one of his lieutenants (after making them fight for it) in exchange for a silly robe and silly title, and an “advisory” role in the party. That gives him all the power with none of the hard work or responsibility, and ensures he can maintain his multiple strands of income without the duties of high office interfering.
Like Johnson, Farage wants the position but not the responsibility it entails. His lacklustre performance as MP for Clacton reveals just how unsuited and uninterested he is in the real job.
Interesting observations….. I wonder, can anyone think of another leader that exhibits similar characteristics?
That comparison is, surely, the key to demolishing Farage and Reform.
Boris Johnson.
Labour have a massive majority, they could bring in electoral reform legislation before the next UK General election. This legislation could ban companies from standing for election, only political parties being eligible to stand, thus forcing Reform to become a political party. In addition, political parties to be all funded by the state, as is the case for Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Norway and many others. No donations at all, to party or politician, with the full force of the law being brought down on donor and recipient if anyone tries it.
The question is, would the people who own Kier Starmer let him do that.
Political parties can’t stand in British General Elections. You have to be a named individual.
Reform is nowadays both Reform UK Ltd, Reform 2025 Ltd, AND another organisation – a political party registered with the Electoral Commission called “Reform UK”.
It was all a manouevre by Fa***e, to obfuscate ownership, control and sources of funding. A bit like “his” (or rather not his) registered address in Clacton.
It succeeded in confusing everyone.
Fa***e’s comanpies past and present are here:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/tW56blTqOI_bXYCDkDghRy3LQtU/appointments
They include:
Reform UK Party Ltd
(incorporated 18th Feb 2025)
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/16260766
and Reform 2025 Ltd (incorporated 23rd Nov 2018)
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11694875
The Electoral Commission has “Reform UK” on its current register of political parties:
https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Search/Registrations?currentPage=8&rows=30&sort=RegulatedEntityName&order=asc&open=filter&et=pp&et=ppm®ister=gb®Status=registered&optCols=EntityStatusName
Its MEANT to be confusing. Enjoy… Fa***e laughs all the way to the bank.
“We all know Farage can stage events. The stunt, the news conference, the appearance of being the “cheeky upstart”
I assume that you are referring to Fart-rage’s “cunning stunts” which of course are all about him – demonstrably so by swapping the c and st.
Related: “resents being upstaged” ………so Tump-mini-me & all the dynamics for a total disaster.
The elections later this year will show how solid the support for the Deform Limited (owner: N Farage) is.
I’ve always thought Farage gets rattled easily if things aren’t to his liking, out of his control or when asked difficult questions. He will get a lot of that if he becomes PM.
That said, I have a feeling that PSR is right in thinking he will just quit if Reform win the general election.
Farage’s nickname at school apparently was Fudge. A life of responsibility in the spotlight in No 10 would drive him mad, he is far more fragile than Trump. One way or another he will boil over, his past will expose him and he will fudge it. Certainly got to hope so and that it will be sooner rather than later.
Jenrick has lately been even more overtly promoting racist divisions than Farage – to the extent that he should be vulnerable to prosecution for hate speech – which is against the law as enshrined in the public order acts.
There is yet another good piece by Aditya Chakrabortty contrasting Starmer/Reeves’ self imposed ‘we can do nothing’ with Trump’s ‘we will do whatever we damn well want to do’:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/16/trump-power-right-starmer-potholes
I have held for a while that the only card Farage actually holds is the ownership of the brand, and the ££££ his public profile brings him. At some point, rapidly approaching, he will be defenestrated, compensated for opening up Reform by a large wedge from ‘anon’. My main suspect was Tice, now possibly Jenrick or even a defector to come; whatever happens I expect the fascists to splinter even more. The main beneficiaries would be the Tories, or even a new hybrid Right grouping – after all they have about 45% of the vote currently.
Maybe…..
One can’t help feeling that Farage is getting older and tired in experience. His brittleness is showing more, and he’s no longer able to hide his nastiness under his previous veneer of charm. The thing is there is no talent in his party, just opportunists and cast offs from other parties. There is no teamwork or common vision, and very little solid political experience. What all his parties have had is money from very questionable sources.
I have for a long time thought that Farage and his nasty party will end up hanging itself by a very long rope. What the British people need and want is hope. He appeared to give it, but in reality he’s just wearing the Emperor’s new clothes, and before long many more will see this. Without a charismatic leader, Reform is nothing. I will cry no tears as he/they are exposed for what they really are.
He’s on with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday morning.
“Why do you want to be prime minister?” would be an interesting question, though it’s doubtful whether the answer would make any more sense than: “Because I’d be good at it”, which is how David Cameron is supposed to have answered the question.
🙂
Lewis Goodall has written an excellent Substck on the subject.
https://open.substack.com/pub/goodallandgoodluck/p/jenrick-wants-to-be-vance-he-cant?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1vkyay
I subscribed.
A couple of things about the defections to Reform which may go against them. It becomes much more difficult to project the idea of “new brush sweeps clean” and indeed “reform” if a significant number of their candidates are washed up “has beens” and rejects from one of the existing parties. If Reform activists, who had expected to be put forward as candidates, then get side-lined because some ex tory gets the nomination, that could cause major fall outs and ructions. I don’t see any of the defectors being prepared to just knock on doors and hand out leaflets in support of someone else, they’ll expect to be the nominee. I think too (and hope) that many voters will see that the defections have more to do with the chances of getting re-elected than policies and principles. How many more defections before they need to change the name from Reform to Regurgitate! 🙂
Everyone has to be prepared to knock on doors. I have it on good authority that Teresa May was regularly out on the doors before she became really senior. Politics should be about teamwork not personal ambition and gsin.
Interesting snippet in last night’s Channel4 News: they had a unit in Kirkcaldy to cover Farridge’s visit to welcome Lord Offord (a former Tory minister whose peerage was a reward for sizeable funds donated to the Tories) who has been appointed to manage Reform in Scotland ahead of the Holyrood election in May of this year. But “events, dear boy, events!” intervened and the Offord event was hurriedy dumped when Jenrick’s defection hit the news and Farridge showed his regard for Scotland and its politics by swiftly dashing off to London to welcome Jenrick and get more TV exposure for his face.
Channel4 then beefed up its Kirkcaldy footage by asking passers-by whether they’ll vote for Reform in the May elections. Four elderly ladies were filmed: 3 of them had Fife accents and responded with disparaging looks and resounding “naws”. The other lady had an English accent and was prepared to give Reform her vote, so 3-to-1 against Reform and a likely forecast.
Incidentally Farridge wasn’t the only London political “giant” wasting his time in Scotland: we were also treated to visits by Steer Karma and Kemi Badenough, neither of whom left any lasting impression, which probably portends their chances in May.
See my National column on Monday.
I think Jenrick knows that Farage doesn’t want the responsibility of being PM and sees defecting to Reform as his best shot. He could, I’m afraid be right
Imho Jenrick was balancing two options and had been seeking advice, hence Badenoch getting wind of it: whether to go for Reform or make a bid for the Tory leadership. Badenoch scored a brilliant coup by making up his mind for him. Two birds with one stone: ditching a dangerous rival; and dumping him into a rival party where he will be in competition with Farrage her #1 political enemy. Genius !!
I can’t remember which Tory politician said that our enemies were not on the benches opposite but all around us on our side of the house (or words to that effect).
What your piece captured, Richard, is something that has been hiding in plain sight for years: Farage has always been a performer, not a leader. When everything is choreographed and the spotlight is fixed, he can play the part. But the moment events stop obeying him, the whole act collapses. Yesterday exposed that brittleness in full view.
A leader who cannot cope with unpredictability is not a leader at all. Real leadership is the ability to absorb pressure, hold your shape, and make decisions when the script falls apart. What we saw instead was irritation, loss of control, and a complete inability to manage the situation unfolding around him. That isn’t a one‑off slip — it’s the inevitable consequence of a political project built entirely around self‑promotion rather than substance.
And this is the deeper problem. When a movement is constructed around one man’s ego rather than shared purpose or competence, it will always fracture under stress. There is no team, no discipline, no vision — just a brand and a grievance machine. Yesterday didn’t just reveal Farage’s limitations; it revealed the emptiness of the whole enterprise around him.