Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O’Flynn

How Farage plans to shake up British politics

(Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Right-wing protest politics has just catastrophically over-reached in America, but it is suddenly back in business in Britain. Its dominant figure, Nigel Farage, has a new political start-up and is sounding rather pleased about it. Earlier this week the Electoral Commission finally — after more than eight weeks of humming and hawing — gave him permission to rebrand the mothballed Brexit party as Reform UK.

‘It is excellent news that the Electoral Commission has approved our name change application. The need for Reform in this country is greater than ever,’ tweeted the new Reform UK leader (an unelected post, naturally).

Given that the Brexit party has not only been in cold storage since the UK formally left the EU at the end of January last year, but became an entirely obsolete brand when the Prime Minister last month secured a trade deal that respects the core of Brexit, the new identity can only be a positive thing for Farage.

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