Former US President Donald Trump celebrated the election of Nigel Farage to Britain’s parliament on Friday, while notably omitting any mention of the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party garnered the third-largest vote count in the recent election. However, due to Britain’s electoral system, the party secured only four seats, while Starmer’s Labour party achieved a landslide victory, sweeping into office.
“Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success. Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Farage, a long-time ally of Trump, has been nicknamed “Mr. Brexit” by the former president. Trump has previously praised Farage, suggesting he would have been an excellent UK ambassador to Washington.
A staunch advocate for Brexit, Farage was elected to parliament on his eighth attempt. He has openly expressed his ambition to take over the now-main opposition Conservative party, which suffered a significant defeat to Labour.
“There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics, and my job is to fill it,” Farage stated following his comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England.
Farage’s success defies a broader rightward shift among Britain’s closest allies, with the far-right National Rally in France seeking power and Trump positioning for a potential return in the United States.
Farage’s victory is expected to strengthen his position as a prominent populist figure, advancing his long-term goal of a “takeover” of the Conservatives. Millions of Conservative voters appeared to have shifted their support to Reform, contributing to one of the Tories’ worst-ever electoral outcomes.
An initial exit poll on Thursday night stirred reactions by predicting Reform would secure 13 seats, far exceeding late-campaign forecasts that suggested the party would win only a handful.