Nigel Farage is no stranger to expressing his ire at what he regards as the liberal establishment, but even figures close to him were surprised at the tirade of anger he unleashed upon the editor of the Times. The exchange, which is said to have included an expletive aimed at Tony Gallagher, was triggered by the Reform UK leader’s outrage that the paper was planning to run a story about his houses, which he said endangered his family. A source with knowledge of the encounter said it ended in “a strong confrontation”.
The clash comes at a fragile moment for Reform’s relationship with Britain’s rightwing media, whose coverage of Farage and his byelection gamble has taken a negative turn since questions were raised about his funding and finances. Coverage by the Times and the Sun, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News UK stable, as well as the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, has made for tough reading for Reform in recent days. While the Telegraph has given column inches to party figures to air their grievances at the media, recent stories have also described Farage’s decision to subject himself to a “people versus the establishment” byelection in Clacton as a “summer gamble” and a farce. Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch appeared in its pages stating the Conservative party “is for serious people, not a retirement home for failed politicians” – a jibe at Reform’s collection of Tory defectors.
“Farage unleashed expletive-laden tirade at Times editor over story about his houses, stuns close figures.”
The Mail has run a positive interview with Farage, but an editorial on the same day read: “How quickly times – and political fortunes – can change. It is only weeks since Reform UK’s rise appeared almost unstoppable. But two byelection defeats and concerns over leader Nigel Farage’s financial affairs have significantly altered the landscape.”
This time last year, Farage was wooing News UK’s leaders and readers, seen as a crucial group in converting Reform’s poll lead into a broad enough power base to make a serious assault on Downing Street. He pressed flesh at the news group’s summer party and dined with the Sun’s editor, Victoria Newton. By then, Reform had already seen its local election slogan, “Britain is broken”, emblazoned on the Sun’s front page.
In recent days, however, a damning verdict on Farage’s current predicament was delivered by Trevor Kavanagh, the Sun’s veteran political commentator and a figure close to Murdoch. “We are witnessing the sudden death of a political movement which began as the UK Independence party, morphed into the Brexit party, and now Reform,” he wrote. “Or, to simply name names, Nigel Farage.” Figures within Reform continue to believe they have a case that the Times should not have published a story containing a picture of a property where one of Farage’s children lives. They say the death of…