Farage says mass migration has changed the UK ‘literally beyond recognition,’ believes party can win election
EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Farage told Fox News Digital that mass migration has radically changed the country's makeup. The Reform UK leader argued that Britain’s political system is "completely broken" following Prime Minister Keir Starmer's resignation. Farage is calling for a new general election, predicting his party has "every chance of winning."
Speaking exclusively from the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London this week, a forum focused on debates over culture, Western civilization and Judeo-Christian values, Farage said Starmer’s downfall was not an isolated political event, but the latest aftershock of the Brexit revolt that upended British politics a decade ago.
"Ten years ago yesterday, we had a political earthquake in Britain. It was called Brexit," Farage said. "And the two old parties have never quite adapted to it."
Farage, one of the most prominent figures behind the Brexit campaign and now leader of Reform UK, has long argued that Britain’s political establishment failed to deliver on voters’ demands for tighter borders and greater national sovereignty.
Starmer announced his resignation,on Monday paving the way for Britain to have its seventh leader in a decade. Reuters reported on June 24 that Andy Burnham appeared positioned to succeed him, with the Labour leadership contest expected to begin July 9.
Farage said that Starmer’s defeat was sealed in local elections earlier this year, when Reform UK made sweeping gains in former Labour strongholds. Farage said those voters were the same people who powered Brexit — and that immigration remained central to their anger.
"All of those were Brexit voters," he said. "Starmer wants to take us closer back to the EU. But one of the reasons we voted Brexit was immigration and border controls. So the boats certainly did him harm."
He said Starmer’s reported strained relationship with President Donald Trump was not the direct cause of his resignation, but added that it contributed to the image of a leader who had lost control.
"I don’t think the breakdown of his relationship with Donald Trump impacted directly," Farage said, "but it was part of a picture of a prime minister who’d lost control."
Farage then delivered one of his sharpest assessments of Britain’s political instability.
"And can you believe it, but when Mr. Burnham becomes our next prime minister, it’ll be our sixth prime minister in seven years," he said. "So our political system is completely broken."
He argued that Burnham, if he entered Downing Street through a Labour leadership contest rather than a national election, would lack a public mandate. "I don’t even know what his policies are. Literally, I don’t," he said.
"So I think for all of those reasons, there ought to be a general election and a fresh mandate," he added, "and I certainly think Reform would have every chance of winning. Yes, I do."
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Farage also used the interview to cast Britain’s political turmoil as part of a broader Western crisis over borders, national identity and traditional values. He delivered a warning for Americans, saying the U.S. should avoid what he described as mistakes Britain made in diversity policies, policing and justice and immigration.
"Mass migration has changed this country, certainly in many of our cities, literally beyond recognition," he said. "We’ve not been selective about who’s been able to come into the country. That is a major contributory factor."
"I think the pendulum has swung so far in the DEI direction," he said, "and we finished up, no doubt, in this country, with two-tier policing, with two-tier justice."
"My message to Americans is that political change is coming," he said. "All of this nonsense will get reversed."
"But also, we’ve just lost our way," he continued. "Our leaders do not want to stand up and defend any sense of traditional values."
Asked about the relationship with the United States, Farage said he believes Britain should move closer to America, particularly on trade and financial services.
"My whole adult life has been closely intertwined with the United States of America," he said, noting that his first job in 1982 was with the Wall Street firm Drexel Burnham Lambert.
"I think I can get on well with American leaders," he said. "I hope and believe they can get on well with me."
Farage said the two countries remain bound by investment, language and culture.
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"You are the biggest foreign investor in Britain, and we’re still just about the biggest foreign investor in America," he said. "And we share so much, not just language, but culture and so much else."
"I really believe that a closer relationship with America, particularly breaking down some of the trade barriers in financial services, as an example, would be really good for both of us," he said.
Farage also dismissed any serious push to take Britain back into the European Union.
"The price of going back into Europe would be giving up the currency, paying a massive membership fee every year," he said. "So no, there is no demand for it, other than those stuck in the Westminster bubble who seem to be obsessed by it."
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Farage framed the American Revolution as a predecessor to the Brexit movement he championed.
"America was the first Brexit," he said. "You struck out on your own, the first Brexit, and you became the most successful country in the world."