The Brexit Party.
Why their revolution of politics is light years away.
Today saw the brainchild of Nigel Farage come to fruition as the Brexit Party was officially launched. As a protest against the leading parties and an attempt to push through Brexit, Farage has launched a war against the elites from a factory in Coventry.
The group joining Farage include business people, educators and a journalist who happens to be the sister of Jacob Rees-Mogg. In total six candidates were announced today who will run in the European Parliament elections next month.
The aims of this party seem straight forward. A swift end to the Brexit delay and an overhaul of British politics, hence the party slogan of ‘change politics for good’. With Farage back as a party leader, it means that he is back in the big time. Not that he ever really went away, his musings whilst in his seat at the European Parliament were always just around the corner.
Farage has come under fire from his old party for comparing TBP to UKIP. The current leader of UKIP, Gerard Batten, criticised Farage saying that the parties are not the same as:
“UKIP has a manifesto and policies. Farage’s party is just a vehicle for him.”
He said the Brexit Party’s “only purpose is to re-elect him (Mr Farage)” and was a “Tory/Establishment safety valve”.
If the Brexit Party could be taken seriously, they might be a genuine threat. However, just hours after the launch event, it was revealed that the domain for the party website was in fact owned by a group called ‘Led by Donkeys’ which is firmly anti-Brexit. This sort of unawareness and lack of common sense has made sure it’s a comical start to life for Farage's new party.
Farage himself isn’t exactly a successful politician. Other than being an MEP and leader of UKIP, he has run for a seat in Parliament on seven occasions and is yet to be successful.
Having an entire party dedicated to Brexit does produce a lot of questions. The idea of creating a party for a cause which could be irrelevant in 6 months leaves a lot to be desired. Any of the candidates put forward might have their political careers cut woefully short, with only the upcoming European Parliament elections to focus on in terms of gaining support.
There is plenty of support for the party. Delay after delay to the Brexit process has created fertile ground for a party of this kind to come in and take support away from both the Conservatives and Labour. Whether the support on social media manifests into anything more concrete remains to be seen, but as of this moment in time they are nothing more than a drop in the ocean and a great distance away from ‘revolutionising politics’. The European elections next month could, however, tell a different story.
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