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00:00 Nigel Farage is standing as a wannabe MP in the UK general election. Now this is a
00:07 major U-turn for the man widely seen as the godfather of Brexit. For issues soon
00:11 acts Conservatives it's potentially bad news as it may well split the vote where
00:15 Farage is standing and give Labour a fighting chance of taking the seat.
00:19 Let's bring in Benedikt Paviot observing all matters for us as always in London.
00:23 Benedikt, very good evening to you. Why has Nigel Farage made this U-turn?
00:29 Why he has made this U-turn, particularly since only days ago Nigel
00:34 Farage was saying why would I want to spend every Friday, that's what MPs who
00:40 are elected to Parliament do, in Clacton. Clacton on the east coast of England
00:45 known for its beaches, for being a seaside town, now thrust into the
00:51 spotlight by Nigel Farage. This is a man who has stood, and that's where the
00:56 white comes in, seven times previously, unsuccessfully since he has failed so
01:02 far to become a Member of Parliament. One of the many reasons that he is standing
01:06 in Clacton is because it is very popular, was very popular during the Brexit vote
01:12 with the Leave campaign. The Leave campaign for those viewers who have
01:17 forgotten is about leaving the European Union which, unpredicted by the polls,
01:22 a majority of UK voters decided that the UK should indeed go ahead with Brexit
01:29 and leave and no longer be a member of the European Union. So he thinks he has a
01:34 fighting chance, but he also thinks that the Conservative Party is no longer
01:39 conservative. He wants to pull it to the right and he clearly, he says, wants to
01:44 energise this election campaign which, yes, I have been reporting for France
01:52 and Qatar before that, on many general elections, as have others, and they say
01:56 that actually this election campaign suddenly called just over a week ago by
02:01 the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, this is not going well at all. In fact, Mr.
02:07 Sunak's could be his worst nightmare because this could really be
02:12 split that party, the Conservative Party, that has already had a lot of infighting,
02:18 a lot of MPs standing down saying they're not going to stand at the next
02:21 general election and they are consistently about 20 points or 18
02:27 points behind in the polls and it's clear that the Labour Party, again in a
02:31 poll today, looks set, it's just a poll, the ultimate one is the general election
02:36 on the 4th of July, but looks set to have a comfortable, very comfortable, majority
02:40 when the 4th of July vote comes. Can you tell us more about what Nigel Farage's
02:45 strategy is here? Well, his strategy is basically to occupy the territory and
02:51 he's begun that already. The first TV debate and a head-to-head between
02:57 Labour's Sir Keir Starmer and the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will take place on
03:03 Tuesday evening, so tomorrow evening, it'll be one hour long and that was
03:08 supposed to occupy the territory politically tomorrow. But clearly, Mr.
03:12 Farage, who has now announced not just that he's standing to be MP, but that he
03:17 will now be the leader of the Reform Party as opposed to its honorary
03:21 president, that means that he wins the right to be in TV debates. Yes, not in the
03:26 head-to-head tomorrow, but you can count on him very much going to Clacton
03:31 tomorrow and occupying the media territory and this is going to be a
03:35 major headache, particularly for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party, as I
03:40 said, trailing badly in the polls, but also for the Labour Party because it
03:45 seems that he will particularly, and the Reform Party, that according to polls
03:50 won't come out today, you gov, will not win any seats in the general election.
03:56 But of course that poll was done in that research before Farage actually entered
04:02 this contest. Will he be eighth time lucky? That is possible. It will be a very
04:08 tough order. There's a very big Conservative majority. It's the ninth, I
04:12 think, Conservative safest seat in the United Kingdom so far. Briefly, Benedict,
04:17 how do you think Farage will get on? Well, I think it's going to be a tall order as
04:22 far as winning that seat, but will he occupy the media territory a lot? Many
04:28 people say he's got the gift of the gab. He goes down to the pub and makes a big
04:33 play of the fact that he's one of the people and I think he's going to be a
04:37 major disruptor. That's what he did during Brexit. He's one of the most
04:41 famous politicians but he's never been an MP. He's been a member of the
04:45 European Parliament but he wants to be an MP in Westminster. Will he do it on
04:49 the 4th of July? Benedict Paviot, you'll be the one to tell us. Thank you very
04:53 much indeed for that briefing from London. Thank you, Benedict. Great to see you.
04:57 Cillian Mbappé.