Lifelong Conservative voters have never been more disillusioned with their party. The surprise victory of David Cameron over David Davis in the leadership election of 2005 set the Tories on a course from which it may not recover. That is why this is the moment for Reform UK, my party, to replace the Tories for good.
Fourteen years of David Cameron’s social democratic policies – remember how he styled himself “the heir to Blair” – have led the party into the electoral abyss. To keep small “c” conservative voters on side all this time, the Tories have presented themselves as a low-tax party and repeatedly promised to reduce net migration to tens of thousands a year.
After fourteen years, not only have the Tories failed to deliver on these promises, but voters now understand that they never really meant it in the first place. If a party is elected for its conservative credentials, but governs from the social democratic Left, it should come as little surprise when once loyal supporters desert in their droves.
I gave the Tories every chance to turn things around. With the Brexit Party victory in the May European elections of 2019, Theresa May was quickly removed from Downing Street. This opened the door for a Boris Johnson premiership, and then I stood aside in over 300 constituencies in the December general election.
I did so in the national interest to keep out Jeremy Corbyn, and in spite of considerable opposition from my own party. Many of those new Conservatives voters in 2019 had already moved from the Labour Party via Ukip or the Brexit Party. They were motivated, first and foremost, by grave concerns about mass immigration.
Since that time, immigration into the United Kingdom has rocketed to record levels. It’s truly astonishing. Since 2022, arrivals have run at one migrant every minute. This is a betrayal of the trust placed in the Conservative party by common sense Britons, and millions of voters now feel this very deeply and personally. There is no going back now.
I am committed to building Reform UK into a major force in British politics and believe that now is the right moment. Nothing works anymore in this country; we are truly Broken Britain. The population explosion has led to a chronic housing shortage, rising rents, and the inability to get a GP appointment. Those that get up early in the morning to go to work now labour under a tax burden that is at its highest in 70 years, whilst millions choose to live on benefits.
In contrast to stagnation under the Tories and Labour, Reform is unveiling some radical solutions. Take the NHS, for example. In the seven-way leadership debate on the BBC on Friday night, the other parties engaged in a bidding war as to who could spend the most on the NHS. Not for a moment did anybody consider whether the money we were spending, which has massively increased in recent years, is leading to better results.
Reform proposes a change to our model while keeping healthcare free at the point of delivery. In France, they have an insurance-based model, which through a system of mutuality means that those that can afford it pay in, whilst those that can’t still get healthcare cover. The money is far better spent. It is much more efficient. If you look at the statistics on strokes, heart disease and cancer, the French are beating us, hands down. If our model isn’t working, it’s time for a change.
Yet Reform is the only party prepared to even contemplate this step.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day has proved to be a pivotal moment in this campaign. I was in Normandy to raise money for the magnificent London Taxi Charity to help veterans to attend these events who otherwise could not afford it. Contrast that with the Prime Minister who couldn’t even be bothered to attend the international service with other world leaders.
Sunak’s insult to our remaining veterans is unforgivable, and it shows that he has no connection with the people of our country. His instincts are those of the global elite. He is simply not a patriotic leader.
The Prime Minister has campaigned so woefully that I believe that we are now approaching a tipping point as voters realise that the general election is effectively over. Labour has won. The Conservatives will be in opposition, but not the Opposition.
In their place, Reform UK now intends to be that voice of opposition in parliament and the country. Reform is a patriotic party committed to ending the political establishment’s deadly addiction to mass immigration. We want to stop the poison of Left-wing identity politics in our schools and are on the side of millions of small businesses. If we can overtake the Tories in the polls in the coming days, it is possible, just possible, that something extraordinary could happen on July 4.
As a child, I remember the despair and collapse of the 1970s when the UK was the “Sick Man of Europe”. Yet within a decade our national fortunes had been reversed. I know that we can do it again, provided that we have the courage and conviction to change course.
There is no need for this to be more than a one-term Labour government. Reform is ready to grasp the centre-Right of British politics and lead the opposition against Starmer’s already unpopular Left-wing rabble. The Conservatives had their chance and blew it. That’s why Reform UK must not be underestimated.
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