Скачать или смотреть 'Boriswave is real': Farage's phrase to link mass immigration to conservatives

The current political moment is a world away from Nigel Farage standing down hundreds of Brexit Party candidates at the 2019 general election to enable Boris Johnson’s Conservatives to win an 80-seat majority.

Mr Johnson may have “got Brexit done” as promised during that year’s campaign but Mr Farage considers the former prime minister’s track record on legal migration the ultimate betrayal.

Net migration hit a record high of more than 900,000 on Mr Johnson’s watch and the Reform leader used his press conference to repeatedly refer to the “Boriswave” of 3.8 million people who moved to the UK after Brexit under more relaxed rules.

The focus on the Conservative record on migration is likely to further toxify the party’s brand and raises questions about how Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, will respond. Mrs Badenoch has already distanced herself from her party’s past failings.

Immigration remains top of the public’s concerns and this was another forthright press conference from Mr Farage and Zia Yusuf, his head of policy. The challenge for any Reform government would, of course, be not disappointing their voters in the same way.