Nigel Farage said he believes “it’s the end of Boris Johnson in the Conservative Party” as he suggested more than 10 Tory MPs could be willing to join a new party.
The prominent Leave campaigner, appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, added that the “gap for another insurgency is actually bigger than it was 10 years ago”.
It comes after Mr Johnson sensationally quit Westminster on Friday as he launched a fierce attack on the Commons Privileges Committee investigation into whether he misled MPs with his assurances over parties held in Downing Street during coronavirus lockdowns.
Mr Farage said: “I think it’s the end of Boris Johnson in the Conservative Party. I think all this talk of ‘oh, he’ll go for this seat or that seat’, well, hang on, he’s virtually just gifted Uxbridge to the Labour Party, there’s no way he’s going to be given a seat, if he really wants to be in politics he is going to have to be part of some sort of centre-right realignment.
“It’s been talked about years ago, the referendum stopped it, now the Ukip insurgency was getting to such a level that there was real talk about this happening, and is Johnson somebody who would want to be part of a new attempt to break the mould of British politics, or would he rather be on the after-dinner speaking circuit?
“I look at reform and, you know, I’m not actively involved in it at the moment, but I think the gap for another insurgency is actually bigger than it was 10 years ago.”
Mr Farage was asked if any Conservative MPs have got in contact who might be interested in a “gap in the political market”.
He said: “More than before, I think there are quite a lot of Conservative MPs right now who know they are going to lose their seats, the Red Wallers know they’re going to lose their seats as it is running as Conservatives, and if there was a coming together on the centre-right, which is where the gap is, I think quite a few would.”
Nigel is making mischief, which he's very, very good at
Tory former leader Michael Howard
Asked how many, he replied: “Potentially, potentially, double figures would not be hard to say.
“I think it needs to be more than just me, you know? You can have one person leading a party into a European election or something like that. A general election, you’ve got to have a range of talents.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know what Boris Johnson’s going to do, but I see a bigger gap for insurgency today than I did before.”
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Afterwards, when Tory former leader Michael Howard was asked if he believed Mr Farage that there would be “some kind of new outfit” coming, he said that “Nigel is making mischief, which he’s very, very good at”.
