UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ex-Number 10 aide Dominic Cummings says Tory leader Kemi Badenoch may be ousted soon, predicts the party may be “dead” and Nigel Farage might become PM.
As reported by Sky News, Dominic Cummings says Kemi Badenoch will be out by year-end, with plans already unfolding to remove her from leadership.
Dominic Cummings views on Kemi Badenoch’s future as Tory leader
Dominic Cummings, who served as Boris Johnson’s chief adviser between 2019 and 2020, warned that the Conservative Party “might be dead.”
Regarding Ms Badenoch, who won the Tory leadership last November, Mr Cummings said, “Kemi will likely be gone by the end of this year.”
He said,
“There are already people who are organising to get rid of her, and I think that that will work. If it doesn’t work this year, it will definitely happen after next May. She’s a goner, so there’s going to be a big transition there.”
Mr Cummings stated the Conservatives may have already crossed a political “event horizon,” describing their decline as irreversible.
He said,
“Like, everyone sort of assumes that because they’ve always been around, then somehow there must be at least one last chance for them to turn things around, but it’s possible that chance is in their past and doesn’t exist,”
Adding,
“It might be dead.”
What did Dominic Cummings reveal about advising Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s path to power?
Dominic Cummings said he met Nigel Farage and helped outline a path from “one man with a phone” to entering Downing Street.
In response to whether Mr Farage could rise to power, Mr Cummings stated,
“It could happen now, yeah, because the old system’s just so completely broken.”
He said,
“If he does what I’m suggesting, and actually sets out a path for how Reform is going to change, how Reform is going to bring in people, how it’s structurally going to alter, what it’s going to build, how it is going to do policy, how it can recruit MPs, etc.”
Former number 10 aide stated,
“If he does that, then there’ll be a huge surge of interest and support into the whole thing. Reform has been a one-man band. It’s been Nigel and an iPhone. They can win 50, 100, 150 seats with Reform as Nigel and an iPhone.”
Mr Cummings said,
“But they can’t win an overall general election and have a plan for government and have a serious team able to take over in Downing Street and govern and control Whitehall with one man and an iPhone.”
He criticised Mr Farage’s personal draw, arguing that it’s not the man but Reform UK that became the voice for anti-establishment anger.
Ex-aide added,
“It’s not exactly correlated with what people think about Nigel himself. Reform is a vehicle for people to say: ‘We despise you, Westminster. We hate both the old parties, we hate Whitehall, we hate the old media, we hate the whole f***ing lot of you. And Farage going up in the polls is the expression of that core feeling.”
What did the survey reveal about Nigel Farage’s chances as UK PM?
Survey now sees Reform leader as equally likely to become Britain’s next PM as Sir Keir Starmer. A recent poll shows Nigel Farage tied with Starmer in public support for Downing Street in the next four years.
Polling data shows Mr Farage’s party securing more than 20% of the vote all year, pushing the Conservatives down to third place.
What did Luke Tryl say about public confidence in UK politics?
Luke Tryl, the executive director of More in Common UK stated,
“This research underscores just how uncertain the public feels about the direction of British politics. Only 13 per cent of Britons are confident Keir Starmer will remain in post after the next election, while a striking 41 per cent say they simply don’t know what the next elected government will look like.”
He added,
“In fact, the public rate Nigel Farage’s chances of becoming prime minister as highly as those of the current PM, with Reform voters particularly convinced their man will be walking into Downing Street.”