Nigel Farage has suggested that he would be willing to work alongside a Labour government as a trade envoy if Donald Trump becomes US president.
Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader predicted his friend would win the presidential election and said he would be “very interested” to work with Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader.
Mr Farage made the claims during a question and answer session, presented by the Telegraph Politics newsletter, with Camilla Tominey, The Telegraph’s associate editor, and dozens of Telegraph subscribers.
“All I’m struck by is that we have an incoming Labour government – 99 per cent certain, according to John Curtice – who have no affinity to Trump’s form of conservatism whatsoever,” he said.
“There’s no way around it, our relationship with America on defence is absolutely crucial. In terms of trade, we are still the biggest foreign investor in America, they are the biggest foreign investor here.
“There needs to be some sort of envoy between an incoming Labour government with people like David Lammy – who’s probably going to the foreign secretary, who’s been really quite abusive about Trump…”
Asked whether he wanted to be “Starmer’s man in Washington”, Mr Farage replied: “That isn’t going to happen. It may well be the other way round. But I do think in the national interest there needs to be an intermediary between Trump and an incoming Labour government. And if I can help with that, I’d be very interested to do so.”
Mr Farage said he had not spoken directly to Sir Keir about such a possibility, but had held talks with “other people around the Labour Party”, adding: “If it’s not me, they need someone to be an intermediary. Not an ambassador, but someone a little more covert.”
Asked directly whether Mr Trump had offered him a job, he quipped: “I can’t remember.”
Mr Farage also predicted that Reform UK would win more votes than the Conservative Party at the next general election.
Accusing the Tories of blowing the 80-seat majority they won in 2019, he said: “I think Reform will get, with or without me, more votes than the Conservatives at the next election, in terms of numbers.
“How that transpires in terms of seats is absolutely anybody’s guess. But I can see the momentum. May 2 [the local elections] is going to be a disaster for the Conservatives.”
Mr Farage ruled out joining the Tory Party “even if they asked me”, while also pouring cold water on the prospect of a “dream ticket” with Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, saying they would not agree on anything.
Asked about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Farage noted that the casualty count was now “just about equivalent to the Battle of the Somme” and called for negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
“We can keep giving weapons to Ukraine, the stalemate can continue and Putin has completely reshaped the Russian economy, it’s about the war or nothing else, or we can have negotiations.
“I think we have to have negotiations and I think Trump will go for those negotiations… What is the endgame of this, what is the goal? If we think it’s a Ukrainian victory, that’s for the birds.”
Mr Farage also paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher on the 11th anniversary of her death, praising her as a “fighter” and saying: “If there’s a similarity, it’s fighting for things that may not be trendy today, but may well be tomorrow.”
It came as Richard Tice, the Reform UK leader, warned candidates not to get drunk and post on social media after the party ditched several prospective MPs over a string of offensive comments.
In the past week alone, the party has dropped five candidates over a series of social media posts described as racist, sexist and homophobic.
Taking questions at a press conference in central London, where he was setting out his party’s plans for NHS reform, Mr Tice was asked how confident he was that he would not have to drop more aspiring MPs.
“We’re very clear to all our candidates, for heaven’s sake… if you’re going to have a glass on a Friday night, then don’t use social media,” he said. “It’s not sensible. And if someone lets us down hereafter, then frankly, if it’s inappropriate, if it’s unacceptable, then we’re going to part company.
“So you can have your freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to represent Reform UK as a parliamentary candidate, because that’s our choice.”
Watch the question-and-answer session above.
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