Nigel Farage Speaks Following Expected Surge in Wins in UK Council Elections | APT

Ajouté : 2026-05-09

[00:00:02]I'll go, mate.

[00:00:09]Thank you, guys. Have a good day.

[00:00:39]Excellent. Good morning, everybody. I am delighted to be here in the sunshine, outside Havering Town Hall, which I can now say is under new management. AND I'M >> [applause] >> AND IT'S SIGNIFICANT. IT'S OUR FIRST WIN OF A borough in London.

[00:01:00]Um and that in some ways goes against the trend. Because the pattern that's emerging over the country is that Labour are being wiped out by Reform in many of their most traditional areas.

[00:01:11]And what you're going to see later on today is the Conservative Party being wiped out in their heartlands like Essex. So, London goes a bit against the trend in that the Conservatives and Labour have held up in some of the other boroughs.

[00:01:25]But, I think overall what's happened is a truly historic shift in British politics. We've been so used to thinking about politics in terms of left and right. And yet what what Reform are able to do is to win in areas that have always been conservative, but equally we're proving in a big way we can win in areas that Labour have dominated, frankly, since the end of World War I.

[00:01:49]At the moment, we're winning one in three of all the seats that are up. Uh but, I genuinely think the best is yet to come. I'm very excited about the Northeast results, the Yorkshire results, some more to come in the West Midlands. Essex, we're feeling supremely confident and that's significant given that half the Shadow Cabinet have seats in Essex. Uh so, it's a big big day.

[00:02:15]It's a big big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way. Uh and it all goes to show that over the course of the last 2 years since we made that breakthrough in the general election, we have professionalized the party.

[00:02:31]Uh we've done it at a very very rapid rate.

[00:02:35]I'm thrilled and delighted and happy to take any questions.

[00:02:42]Yes.

[00:02:48]The best is yet to come.

[00:02:50]The best is yet to come. I I'm very excited about the prospects for us in Sunderland, in Barnsley, in Calderdale, in Wakefield, at Cannock Chase, um areas like that. And by the way, you know, we took Newcastle-under-Lyme from the Conservatives, but there was there were going to be some big big Labour wins. And perhaps in in historic terms, Wales is the biggest of all.

[00:03:14]You know, Labour have not lost an election in Wales since 1922. I couldn't tell you whether the plaid will be first or we're going to be first. What I can tell you is it's going to be a tight race between the two. So, Wales, historically significant.

[00:03:34]Well, we've got a a track record now.

[00:03:36]You know, where we have majority control of the 10 councils we won on May the 1st last year, 1 year in, you know, we can say hand on heart we've already saved over 300 million pounds and we've kept our council tax rises all lower than any of the other parties running comparable counties. And if you doubt me, the IFS actually yesterday backed that up. So, we are delivering value for money. What we're going to do here is whilst many of these are new to politics, we've also got some old lags.

[00:04:08]>> [laughter] >> Thank you. Well, well, when you were the council leader, you know.

[00:04:12]So, we've also got some experience of how to run this place. Um and we're very excited about the prospects. By the way, no one's got a magic wand. We all know that finances of local councils all over the country are severely stretched. Uh and we're not promising miracles, but we are promising good value for money.

[00:04:29]>> that this might be a protest vote though against Labour and Keir Starmer, and that's why people are coming to Reform when it comes to the general election?

[00:04:35]Well, that's not smiling up very different. Well, have a look at last year. You know, last year we far exceeded expectations in the counties that were fought. Uh you know, it it it can't continue to be a fluke or a protest vote. I I would honestly say you're witnessing a historic shift in British politics. This is now the most national of all parties. We're competitive in the north of Scotland. We were competitive in Cornwall in the county elections last year. We're competitive in every part of the country. Um and we're here to stay.

[00:05:05]You've talked about some difficult questions of funding for uh local councils. Give us some difficult questions about your own funding.

[00:05:11]Yeah, yeah. We'll talk about that any other time you like. Go on. Nigel, we've heard say before that the two-party system is dead.

[00:05:20]What makes this time different? How confident are you based on these results that you're heading for number Well, look, I think you know, apart from London, as I say, London that there are some London boroughs in which Labour have held up well overnight. The Conservatives have won back Westminster, although failed to do so in Wandsworth.

[00:05:39]Um there is still some residual strength. You know, both the Labour and Conservative parties would view London as their stronghold. But if you go to Merseyside, you go to Greater Manchester, you know, just have a look.

[00:05:51]Have a look overnight at what we've achieved already in results.

[00:05:55]You know, in in in in Greater Manchester, Tameside being an example where where we won all the seats that were up overnight. And one of the big ones I'm looking forward to on Merseyside is St. Helens later on today where all 46 seats are up. Now, these are areas, you know, Boris Johnson did well in 2019 in the red wall, but what you're going to see today from us goes way, way further than that. And I think what you're seeing is voters who aren't just coming to us for a one-off. They're now becoming reformers in every way. So, I am convinced that it's a fundamental change. I said yesterday that this set of elections was like our Becher's Brook. You know, you've got to clear Becher's Brook, you've got to land safely if you're going to go on and win the Grand National. And these are the most significant set of elections between now and the general election.

[00:06:40]And I think we're in a very good place.

[00:06:42]And our And our lead, you look at our lead over the other parties, it's consistently about 9 and 1/2%.

[00:06:52]Yes.

[00:06:59]I suspect when you see the full results in the red wall, there'll be a rebellion. Uh personally, I'd be very sad to see the Prime Minister go.

[00:07:08]Um I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Yes.

[00:07:26]Well, you know, as far as Havering's concerned, there are many, many here and ever since 1965 have slightly resented being part of Greater London.

[00:07:37]All I would say is people ought to have the choice to make a decision on that.

[00:07:41]And there'll be an argument to and fro.

[00:07:43]So, yes, people here ought to have that ability, ought to have that choice. More broadly, you know, I think what you're going to see and obviously we've got Scotland to come as well. What you're going to see by the end of today is that whilst the Conservative Party have the odd pocket of strength predominantly in very affluent areas they will cease to be a national political party. And I made the point earlier that we are competitive right down from the southwest of England up to the northeast of Scotland. And I would honestly say now that we are the only true national party. We're competitive everywhere.

[00:08:17]What about your constituents? Yes.

[00:08:19]What's your message to people who didn't vote Reform yesterday? How do you see them dealing with with the whole country?

[00:08:25]My message is I know there are lots of people out there who think, well, it's still all a bit new. You know, is it really here to stay? Um can they really do it? Can they really win? Um and my answer to them is we did it last year.

[00:08:40]We've done it again this year, and we will go on doing it between now and the next general election. And and we are the opposition in British politics. The current makeup of Parliament with the Conservatives as opposition reflects where we were in 2024. It does not reflect where we are now. If you want a party that's going to stand up to the way that private business is being attacked, to the way that those who get up in the morning and go to work feel they're paying more and more money, getting less and less in their pocket and subsidizing many who choose not to work as an option, then we are your choice. And that's the reshaping of politics. It's it's it's not about left and right, but increasingly it's about whether you go to work or not. And and and and I've and I've had that all over the country. The one other thing I would say going around that I've been 9 weeks on the road nonstop, 6 days a week you know, as far north as the Shetland Islands. Um one thing that consistently I get in the street from people, especially from women actually, is please save us.

[00:09:41]Please save us.

[00:09:43]A sense that society is in rapid decline, law and order, anti-social behavior, shoplifting, whatever it is, please save us. There is a feeling out there that all the values that have mattered to people their whole lives, the kind of country they want their kids and grandkids to live in is very, very severely under threat.

[00:10:05]Thank you very much. You're a very valuable good man.

[00:10:09]Sorry.

[00:10:11]When is the next general election?

[00:10:14]Oh, to keep building. To keep building.

[00:10:16]To keep building.

[00:10:17]Um, to keep building our data. To select our candidates for the general election.

[00:10:21]We've got I mean, look, we've still got a lot of work to do. I was asked before Christmas how complete the reform project was. I said we're about halfway there. We're now more than two-thirds of the way to where we need to be in terms of planning, preparation, professionalization, fundraising, all of those things. But, uh, listen, we're here with a purpose. I mean, we want to turn the country around. We all feel it's headed in the wrong direction on a number of major, major issues. Uh, frankly, many people find the societies they're living in unrecognizable from just a few short years ago. This is This is This is This is stuff of the heart.

[00:11:00]This is really emotive stuff that matters to people.

[00:11:05]No, doors closed. Sorry.

[00:11:08]Sorry, Roser came.

[00:11:10]Roser came. He's very welcome. But, no, no more to no more Tories anymore.

[00:11:16]Well, who knows? Who knows? Who knows? I mean, we've already had, uh, Sir Robin Wales from Newham, you know, former former council leader of and actually quite a legend in local government in Labour. Uh, and I think the time for conversations with patriotic old Labour representatives is now. So, I will take Labour defections.

[00:11:37]>> Keir Starmer's got left in him?

[00:11:40]I would suspect I would suspect that the rumblings are going to start even before the King's speech on the 13th of May. He'll be lucky to still be there by midsummer, would be my guess. But, as I say, personally, I think he's a great chap, and I really want him to stay.

[00:11:55]My constituents and our viewers are really concerned about the cost of living and prices going up. What can the government We have stuck ourselves into an insanity on energy.

[00:12:06]It was the Conservative Party that signed us up to net zero, that decided there was no need to be a manufacturing nation, no need to produce our own oil and gas. Uh what we are paying >> This war hasn't helped.

[00:12:20]No, and nor did the Ukraine war. And there are always events beyond our control, which is why we should be absolutely self-sufficient, not just in the production of oil and gas, but also we've lost the refining ability. It's one of the reasons that diesel is so expensive, we're not able to produce it.

[00:12:38]So, you know, look at Norway. Look at Norway.

[00:12:41]They opened 49 new drill sites last year on their side of the North Sea. In fact, you can actually see some of the new Norwegian rigs from our rigs that are currently being decommissioned.

[00:12:52]We opened zero last year. And what this war has told us, above all else, is that we need to be as self-sufficient in energy and as self-sufficient in food as we possibly can be. And uh not relevant here in Havering, but one of the things that we will be doing um out in in the rural areas and in the counties, we will fight every single solar farm application on good farmland.

[00:13:18]So, if we produced our own gas, the price would be a lot cheaper. The government will tell you, "Oh, no, no, no, it's a global price." Would you think that getting gas out of the ground in Montana, liquefying it, bringing it across the Atlantic and re-gassing it is the same price as what we could do it for here, both onshore and offshore.

[00:13:36]It's nonsense. Is it possible to have a phone call with your friend Donald Trump to maybe end this war in Iran? That would help prices over here. I think the war in Iran is very close to an end.

[00:13:44]Thank you very much, guys. Thank you, guys. Right. Can I ask you to take one step back and do one piece to camera for our social media? So, we're going to do the same again, nice horseshoe, but Nigel's going to do this one for our camera.

[00:13:54]Thank you very much.

[00:14:31]It's 1:59 a.m. I'm here in the London Borough of Havering and we won overall control of this council. It's our first big victory in London. Full credit Full credit a few months ago and we're very excited about >> Mhm.